Karkloof Conservancy Annual Game Count

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The Karkloof Conservancy held their 17th Annual Game Count on the 5 July 2013. This year the weather conditions were superb, with the moon shining brightly over the Karkloof Valley and the wind behaving itself for a change.

Carolyn and her grandchildren

We are overjoyed with the brilliant participation we had from our farmers, foresters and landowners in the Karkloof.

New Manager at Mbona and his family

Being strategically planned to coincide with the schools holidays, we are able to encourage family participation to ensure that the younger generation can be included in the excitement of the evening.

Sammy Campbell and Lucy MacKenzie

Carolyn Goble, Chairlady of the Karkloof Conservancy, welcomed everyone to the Karkloof Country Club with warm cup of Gluhwein after their count.

Welcomed by Gluwein

Janine Smith, of the Lions River Honorary Officers (HO), assisted us once again to collate all the data for a comparison with previous game counts so that everyone could see how the numbers were doing.

Janine collating Figures

Janine also rallied some extra HO’s to assist some of our farmers with their game count. Pieter Duys, representative of Rockwood Lodges which is situated in the Karkloof Nature Reserve, remarked that the help he received from the HO’s was invaluable. He was so happy to have had them join him and their keen eyes even spotted a Bush Baby!MacGillivray Family

Our numbers were up for many game species such as our Common Reedbuck, Bushbuck, Duiker, Bushpig and Jackal.

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Our Waterbuck, Oribi, Porcupine and Hares numbers were down, although they remain stable according to the trends. We had some other interesting sightings such as Wattled Cranes, Stanley Bustards, Samango monkeys, Serval, Caracal, African Wild Cat, Otters, Mongooses, Owls and Nightjars.

We would like to thank all our members, SAPPI, Mondi, UCL, KZN Wildlife and the Lions River Honorary Officers for their support, enthusiasm and participation which makes our Annual Game Count the success it is today.

MacKenzies

We encourage everyone to participate in their local Conservancy’s game count no matter how small your land is, because it really is a fun community event, and you’ll be surprised what you see when you’re actually looking!

Lisa Campbell and Gill Goble

You can visit our website www.karkloofconservation.org.za to find out more about the Karkloof Conservancy and the role they play in the Karkloof community.

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About Midlands Conservancies Forum

Welcome to the Midlands Conservancies Forum Blog. The conservancy movement in South Africa has its roots in KZN Midlands with Balgowan being the first conservancy established in 1978 by landowners in the area who were concerned about the reduction in the number of game and general degradation of the environment. Today there are 14 conservancies within or overlapping the Umgeni Local Municipality. In keeping pace with international environmental issues and the ever-increasing threat to our dwindling biodiversity the conservancy movement has expanded its influence to include challenges way beyond the founding concerns for the reduction in game and general degradation of the environment. The fact of the matter is that, at the very least, the state of the environment in the KZN Midlands is of vitally and direct importance to well in excess of 3 million people who depend largely on this region for their fresh water. In terms of global the planet has 34 biodiversity hotspots which are the Earth’s most biologically rich and threatened areas. These hotspots hold especially high numbers of unique species, yet their combined area now covers only 2.3 percent of the Earth's land surface. South Africa is home to 3 of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots and the Midlands not only falls into the Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany hotspot but is one of the 21 priority nodes that have been identified by the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund for investment aimed at securing existing biodiversity. The Midlands Conservancy Forum is proud to have been awarded a two year grant that has been used to establish the MCF Biodiversity Stewardship project that is working closely with KZN Wildlife. The reality of the Conservancy movement is that it has until know been championed by volunteers who are landowners and, in many cases, have precious little time and therefore this needs to be used to the maximum potential. This has lead to the establishment, and current success, of the MCF. It is an ideal forum to share knowledge, experiences and collectively tackle common issues in the most co-0rdinated and effective way possible. It is also a forum that has the capacity, through its landowner support base, geographical influence and biological inventory, to attract funding for critical environmental projects. It is also a forum for any and all government departments, NGOs and industries to engage with environmentally minded landowners. Through this blog we hope to promote the aims of the MCF in general and the sharing of information in particular. It is your platform to express and respond to ideas and concerns. Please use it wisely and respectfully!

3 thoughts on “Karkloof Conservancy Annual Game Count”

  3. Pingback: July 2013 Conservancy News | KZN Conservancies Association Blog

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