The Western Soutpansberg Nature Reserve (WSNR), covering 14 properties with eight landowners, and spanning over 11 607 ha of critical biodiversity, was officially declared on January 17.

Conservation nongovernmental organisation The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) drove the formation of the WSNR.

The new reserve in the Soutpansberg encompasses a Centre of Endemism, which is a recognised key biodiversity area, a strategic groundwater source area and an expansive critical biodiversity area in the Limpopo Conservation Plan.

Owing to the important biodiversity, cultural heritage and largely in-tact natural landscape, the EWT became a landowner and initiated the Soutpansberg Protected Area in 2018, with a mission to formally declare large parts of the western Soutpansberg as a nature reserve, through the government’s Biodiversity Stewardship Programme.

The Soutpansberg mountains are home to an impressive 593 species of trees; five different biomes, including wetlands, forest, savanna, grassland and thicket; and fynbos elements.

They also house multiple sacred sites, rock art and other archaeological sites, and are important for cultural heritage, with many communities celebrating their vibrant traditions in the region to this day.

Work is also under way, in collaboration with the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (Ledet), to expand the reserve by 20 000 ha this year, as part of the EWT’s aim to create a protected area of 50 000 ha by 2030.

Further, this declaration supports South Africa’s commitments to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 30-by-30 target of protecting 30% of the planet’s terrestrial and 30% ocean ecosystems by 2030, the conservation organisation highlighted.

Additionally, many of the Soutpansberg landowners offer tourism services on their properties, allowing for nature-loving visitors to explore the WSNR and surrounds, with a range of offerings from five-star accommodation to overlanding camp sites and hiking trails.

Meanwhile, the Western Soutpansberg Nature Reserve Association (WSNRA) has been assigned as the management authority of the reserve.

Each landowner is a member of the WSNRA and manages their property/ies within the approved WSNR framework management plan, with activities including the management of invasive alien plants, local community engagement projects, environmental education and women’s health workshops in local villages.

The EWT and WSNRA reserve management are undertaking initiatives that include bush encroachment work, fire management, invasive species management and the development of eco-tourism initiatives, including the Old Salt Trail, which offers hiking enthusiasts one of the best ways to explore the newly declared nature reserve, and showcases why the Soutpansberg is special, the organisation said.

The WSNRA is a voluntary landowners’ association for landowners who are committed to managing their properties as part of a collective nature reserve.

The declaration of the WSNR completes a process started in 2021 through the partnership between landowners, Ledet, Ndlovu de Villiers Attorneys, Conservation Outcomes and agricultural company ZZ2.