Speaker 1: All right, so we are heading to the breathtaking Overburg
Speaker 1: region for a remarkable environmental victory for our on the
Speaker 1: couch conversation today, the horror of x Rnosta Felts, which
Speaker 1: is home to some of the rarest plant and animal
Speaker 1: species in the world, has just been officially declared a
Speaker 1: provincial nature reserve. It's a really big deal for conservation
Speaker 1: and a massive milestone for one of the country's most
Speaker 1: endangered ecosystems. I'm delighted that joining me this afternoon is
Speaker 1: doctor Adette Curtis Scott, who is the CEO and founder
Speaker 1: of the Overberg Ranostafeld Trust. Good to have you with
Speaker 1: us this afternoon's been making time.
Speaker 2: Hi to start with you.
Speaker 1: Just tell us what makes heart of xklu if I'm
Speaker 1: so sorry to all the offercants speakers so special, and
Speaker 1: why I have to put that cavea I have to
Speaker 1: put it every time, and why its declaration as a
Speaker 1: nature reserve is such a big deal.
Speaker 2: Well, nat Felt a little bit renouta Felt is part
Speaker 2: of the fain Boss biom. And I think most people
Speaker 2: have heard of frain Boss, especially the locals, and we
Speaker 2: all know how special fain Boss is and the levels
Speaker 2: of endemism and the rarity. But within that, Renot de
Speaker 2: Felt is even more threatened than most fein Boss types
Speaker 2: because it lies on the fertile lowlands, which are obviously
Speaker 2: the most suitable for agriculture. So the small percentage that
Speaker 2: we have left, which is estimated to be between five
Speaker 2: and ten percent depending on where you are in the
Speaker 2: overberg or swatland, is rarely precious. And despite how little
Speaker 2: is left, there's so much diversity and so much life
Speaker 2: still in these remnants and hardavaf Curf is basically part
Speaker 2: of the biggest area of rhinosta Felt left on the planet.
Speaker 2: So buying it and declaring it a nature reserve has
Speaker 2: really helped us sort of put rhinoster Felt on a
Speaker 2: map in a more formal way and drawing more attention
Speaker 2: to it, which is so desperately need so that we
Speaker 2: can expand these protected areas for more in us to help.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's obviously a declaration that didn't happen overnight. So
Speaker 1: when you just walk astade, what did it officially take
Speaker 1: to declare this area of provincial nature reserve?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's quite a process, and a reserve declaration generally
Speaker 2: does take a couple of years to go through all
Speaker 2: the necessary steps and in parallel with some sort of
Speaker 2: legal processes that need to happen and potentially public participation
Speaker 2: and advertising and all the things that need to happen
Speaker 2: when a land use is changed. Also the writing up
Speaker 2: of a management plan and you know all that, so
Speaker 2: working together with Cape Nature to get to that point. Also,
Speaker 2: the land and is not owned by us, it's owned
Speaker 2: by w w F, and we are the management authority
Speaker 2: on the land. So we have first of all that
Speaker 2: partnership with w w F, and then we have the
Speaker 2: partnership with Cape Nature and all of us working together
Speaker 2: to make to get it to the point of declaration.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it was a process. It took a bit
Speaker 2: longer than it should have because of various changes in
Speaker 2: the various departments as as governmental positions changed and departments changed.
Speaker 2: But yeah, we're thrilled to have it where we where
Speaker 2: we have it now, and also to be adding land
Speaker 2: to it, which will be double doubling the size of
Speaker 2: the nature reserved very soon because of additional land that
Speaker 2: we've bought. So it's kind of the start of something
Speaker 2: really exciting and bigger. At a landscape level.
Speaker 1: What is the legal protection actually mean in really practical terms,
Speaker 1: I guess for the land for conservation efforts, and also
Speaker 1: I guess for the public who like to enjoy it.
Speaker 2: Yes, So the legal protection gives it the same status
Speaker 2: as a provincial nature reserve. So all the local nature
Speaker 2: reserves that are managed by Cave Nature, for example d Hup,
Speaker 2: which is very nearby the Harvest Cliff Reserve, it gives
Speaker 2: it that same legal status. So it's that same level
Speaker 2: of protection from developments, from mining, from wind farms, anything
Speaker 2: that could be a threat to the remaining Rhinosa felt.
Speaker 2: It just gives it the highest form of protection that
Speaker 2: can be afforded to land that is privately owned. And
Speaker 2: it is also a place that you know, it's for us.
Speaker 2: It's we've developed quite a bit of the old infrastructure
Speaker 2: that was on the reserve, so it's it's like a
Speaker 2: hub for a Noster fault for students, for scientists, for visitors,
Speaker 2: for foreigners and locals to come and and learn more about it,
Speaker 2: spread the word experience the reserve and kind of immerse
Speaker 2: themselves in Renoster felt. There are a few places you
Speaker 2: can do that, sorry, because it's all on parity owned land.
Speaker 2: The rest of it.
Speaker 1: So you mentioned that of the noster felt, I mean,
Speaker 1: this is there's a very small amount still remaining. So
Speaker 1: what are the biggest threats to this ecosystem today?
Speaker 2: And so because it's all found on privately owned land,
Speaker 2: the remaining that they're all sort of existing as little
Speaker 2: islands or little strips of water courses, little corridors joining
Speaker 2: the islands, in some cases surrounded by monoculture. So what's
Speaker 2: what's what's remaining as pressure from the outside, from chemical drift,
Speaker 2: from spraying and all the things that need to happen
Speaker 2: on agricultural land. Also the illegal plowing because the law,
Speaker 2: there are laws to protect virgin land from being plowed,
Speaker 2: but that doesn't necessarily stop this from happening, overgrazing, incorrect
Speaker 2: fire regimes, being used as dump sites by land owners
Speaker 2: who don't value it. So yeah, it's got a suite
Speaker 2: of problems around it, and in it's in addition to
Speaker 2: the fact that they're so little left.
Speaker 1: In terms of the wildlife, when you and the plants
Speaker 1: that are found here, what maybe might people be surprised
Speaker 1: to learn about? I mean it's home to some quite
Speaker 1: rare species.
Speaker 2: Yes, So despite how little is left. These remnants are
Speaker 2: bursting with life. Obviously most well known for their plant diversity.
Speaker 2: On Harva's Clerf, we recorded over six hundred species in
Speaker 2: rhinoster felt Across the Overberg over one two hundred species,
Speaker 2: and a very high proportion are endemic, meaning that they
Speaker 2: are only found on those islands. And I don't mean
Speaker 2: like every island. In some cases, some of the species
Speaker 2: occur on fewer than a handful of sites, some on
Speaker 2: just one or two remaining sites. So we say the
Speaker 2: levels of endemism are very high, the very special, really
Speaker 2: endangered plants. And if you look at the system, if
Speaker 2: you sort of take a bird's eye view of the Overberg,
Speaker 2: the diversity of animals is completely dependent on those remaining
Speaker 2: remnants because they need them as a refuge and as
Speaker 2: a place to go and to breed and to hide
Speaker 2: when the lands are barren at certain times of the
Speaker 2: year after the crops have been harvested and so on.
Speaker 2: And there are many animals that cannot make use of
Speaker 2: wheat fields because it's just too foreign to them and
Speaker 2: it's too sort of hostile for them. So yeah, those
Speaker 2: little remnants are critical and burst with diversity, which is
Speaker 2: surprising if you think about how little is left if
Speaker 2: you're just joining us.
Speaker 1: This afternoon, I'm speaking to doctor Adette Curtis Scott, who
Speaker 1: is the CEO and founder of the Oberberg Roinestereveld Trust,
Speaker 1: about the heart of exclure for an aster feld that's
Speaker 1: been declared a provincial nature reserve and the significance of
Speaker 1: that legally and in very practical terms, both for that
Speaker 1: piece of land for conservation efforts and for the public. How, then,
Speaker 1: I wonder, does this fit into the bigger picture of
Speaker 1: conservation in the Western Cape or even across the country more.
Speaker 2: Broadly, well, of all the all countries that have agreed
Speaker 2: to go for the thirty thirty target, where we were
Speaker 2: all aiming to get suty percent of our learned into
Speaker 2: conservation by twenty city. These hectors contribute to our to
Speaker 2: the government's ability to report on those achievements and on
Speaker 2: the hectares that are being conserved. But it's also especially
Speaker 2: important for the fame Boss Biome, because we are considered
Speaker 2: the Fames Biome is considered the smallest but amongst the
Speaker 2: very richest in the world. If you take the number
Speaker 2: of special plants that you get per hectare or per
Speaker 2: meter per meter squared. So for example, just to come
Speaker 2: down again to our scale we have had, we've done
Speaker 2: surveys with a one by one meter little quadrants where
Speaker 2: we've recorded over fifty species in a one by one
Speaker 2: meter quadrant, which is absolutely mindless. So the diversity on
Speaker 2: that small scale is incredible. And then zooming out, what
Speaker 2: we rarely need to remember with conserving these natural systems
Speaker 2: is that we are trying to build resilience in these
Speaker 2: landscapes for future generations to be able to still enjoy
Speaker 2: these natural systems, and also with climate change and with
Speaker 2: land use changes, that these little remnants are what harbor
Speaker 2: what is left of nature. And I mean people feel
Speaker 2: they need nature to varying degrees, but most people will
Speaker 2: agree that there is a really important element in nature
Speaker 2: that we all get something out of whatever it is
Speaker 2: that you get out of it. I find peace, and
Speaker 2: you know, my time with the little critics and my camera,
Speaker 2: that's my that's my piece, you know, and everyone finds.
Speaker 2: People find solitude there, and and so I think it's
Speaker 2: really really important that we view these places as just
Speaker 2: as important as things that bring in a different kind
Speaker 2: of value monetary value. Yeah, and and and so linked
Speaker 2: to that, if I can just mention we we are
Speaker 2: running some retreats at our reserve because we wren't more
Speaker 2: people to come and see it. We want more people
Speaker 2: to experience for Anurse de celt and really kind of
Speaker 2: immerse themselves in it. And having a nature reserve where
Speaker 2: people can come and do that is really great for
Speaker 2: the specific vegetation that's so threatening.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we can you just tell us a little bit
Speaker 1: more about those retreats that did.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we're what we've done is we've developed some
Speaker 2: of the infrastructures I mentioned earlier that it was already
Speaker 2: on the reserve from an old dairy to an old
Speaker 2: shared and the old original farmhouse, and we've got some
Speaker 2: accommodation there and in a lovely learning space for people
Speaker 2: to interact and run sort of run workshops and retreats.
Speaker 2: And so we are running a series of retreats whether
Speaker 2: they are they connected to art, to photography to birding
Speaker 2: at the reserve and they are on our website and
Speaker 2: so that people can come and learn something different and
Speaker 2: learn something, you know, take away a new skill, but
Speaker 2: also get to know an osterfelt and understand its importance
Speaker 2: and spend time walking in it, enjoying the hikes around
Speaker 2: the reserve and that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: So congratulations on this, and you're on your work on
Speaker 1: doing this, and thank you for sticking with it. As
Speaker 1: you said earlier, it didn't happen overnight and it required
Speaker 1: an awful lot of work on your part and other
Speaker 1: collaborators to congratulations on that and good to have you
Speaker 1: with us this afternoon. Doctor Adette Curtis Scott, who is
Speaker 1: the CEO and founder of the Overberg of an Osterfelt
Speaker 1: Truster talking to us about the heart of Execluree for
Speaker 1: a nooster Felt that's been declared a provincial nature reserve.
Speaker 1: Great news for local conservation