The Bottelary Hills Renosterveld Conservancy received the Conservation Driver Trophy for progressive conservation achievements at the 2022 Cape Fox Awards function hosted at Zevenwacht Wine Estate on 26 October.
The annual Cape Fox Awards are handed out by Conservation at Work (CAW), a non-profit organisation that promotes and supports the conservation of private land in the Western Cape.
There are five award categories for conservation agencies, individual landowners and conservancies.
The Conservation Driver Award recognises progressive conservation achievements of conservancies such as improving governance structure, income generation, getting projects going, making themselves visible, and increasing memberships.
Progress
The Bottelary Hills Renosterveld Conservancy (BHRC) is situated in the agricultural area between Stellenbosch and the suburbs of Brackenfell and Kuils River.
BHRC conservation manager Christel Liebenberg says the conservancy encompasses an area of about 10 000 hectares of which 1 500 hectares are retained as Swartland Granite Renosterveld.
Members Koopmanskloof and Mooiplaas both have proclaimed private nature reserves, while a further three BHRC members (De Morgenzon, Mooiplaas and Neethlingshof) have achieved World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Conservation Champion status.
As part of the Cape Winelands Biosphere, the BHRC serves as a buffer zone to protect and maintain the rich biodiversity of the area. Game such as caracal, grysbok, grey duiker, porcupine, bat-eared foxes, cape foxes, honey badgers and genets still roam naturally in the Bottelary Hills.
Liebenberg says the award acknowledges the BHRC’s remarkable progress and growth over the past two years. “The BHRC has grown its membership to 50 landowners and extended the Bottelary Hills MTB trail to span an impressive 130 km.”
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