To save a rare South African ecosystem, conservationists bought the land
Three conservation trusts have together purchased an area of a severely threatened vegetation type found in the Overberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape province. Known as the renosterveld, this unique habitat characterized by shrubs and grasses is also a breeding ground for endangered black harriers, the three groups announced in a joint press release.
The Overberg Renosterveld Trust (ORT) partnered with the U.K.-based World Land Trust (WLT) and the Mapula Trust to buy the 270-hectare (667-acre) property called Goereesoe. The site is part of the Eastern Rûens Shale Renosterveld, an ecosystem considered to be critically endangered. The renosterveld used to cover a large part of the Overberg region, but now only 5% remains, due to land conversion for agriculture, ORT said.
“This is a significant win for renosterveld and the Black Harrier,” Odette Curtis-Scott, CEO of the Overberg Renosterveld Trust, said in the release. “By securing this land, we are protecting critical habitat and species whose futures are teetering on a knife edge.”
The black harrier (Circus maurus), found mostly in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, has fewer than 500 breeding pairs left in the wild. Goereesoe, along with the neighboring Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve and another property called Plaatjieskraal — all managed by the ORT and known collectively as the Haarwegskloof Cluster — together support around 30 pairs of breeding black harriers, or 6% of the global population, ORT said.
ORT added that securing Goereesoe will help researchers track movements of black harriers, which have been impacted by wind turbines, as previously reported by Mongabay.
Curtis-Scott said the Haarwegskloof Cluster, the largest connected stretch of renosterveld left on Earth, has now grown to more than 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres), after adding Plaatjieskraal and Goereesoe. ORT said it hopes both properties will receive nature reserve status soon, and is working with neighboring farms to grow a conservation corridor.
“It means that wildlife, especially our precious pollinators and invertebrates, can move freely and safely across this natural remnant patches in this highly transformed landscape,” Curtis-Scott said.
To save a rare South African ecosystem, conservationists bought the land
Rewilding project aims to restore resilience to fire-prone Spain via wildlife
Cueva de los Casares sports at least two dozen images of wild horses. Eventually, these Pleistocene-epoch horses vanished — likely slaughtered for food or domesticated. But some 10,000 years later, wild horses have again returned to central Spain — this time to help with out-of-control fires and bring economic opportunity to a struggling region.
In 2023, Rewilding Spain, a branch of Rewilding Europe, brought in the first 16 Przewalski’s horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) from France to the highlands of Spain’s Guadalajara province, one of the least populated parts of the country. Once extinct in the wild, Przewalski’s horse is the last fully wild horse in the world, genetically distinct from all domesticated horses. Originally from Mongolia, they’ve been rewilded to a number of countries in Europe.
“It was an amazing feeling … to bring these animals here,” says Pablo Schapira, team leader with Rewilding Spain. Before returning to his home country, Schapira spent a dozen years in Africa working with the NGO African Parks, including on species reintroductions.
He says doing reintroductions in his home country “was amazing because I didn’t think it was possible.”
Today, the project has 35 Przewalski’s horses.
And it’s not the only species brought back by Rewilding Spain. The team also brought in Taurus cattle. Developed by the Taurus Project, these cattle are meant to be as similar as possible to the extinct aurochs (Bos primigenius) that once roamed much of Europe, Asia and North Africa. In addition to Przewalski’s horse and the taurus, the project also has a number of semiwild horses.
“By healthy landscape, we mean one that is not homogeneous, that is diverse, that can stop a fire because you have a pasture here, a cultivated field there … not a continuous closed woody vegetation,” Rodriguez says.
With various types of herbivores tackling different types of vegetation, fire is less likely to burn as intensely or spread as far. By chewing up the tall grasses, the horses make natural fire breaks in the grasslands, and the taurus decrease standing vegetation loads by destroying and thinning trees.
The group is also working on bringing back populations of cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) and bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) to help restore scavengers to the ecosystem. Both vultures are listed as near threatened, and their presence here could help bring more birders to the region.
“Our future goal is for [these animals] to become part of the new normal in these ecosystems, so that we no longer have to be working here forever,” Rodriguez says. “Our initiative is long-term; we have funding committed for 20 years, but our goal is that, at some point, this becomes part of the normal landscape and can be maintained solely by the local people.”
Rewilding project aims to restore resilience to fire-prone Spain via wildlife
African gray parrots get complete protection in DR Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo has banned the capture and trade of African gray parrots nationally, protecting one of the world’s most trafficked birds, according to a national decree signed Aug. 13.
Gray parrots (Psittacus erithacus), known for their intelligence and mimicry skills, are widely trapped from the wild for the international pet trade. This has decimated their populations across their range in Africa, including in DRC, where the birds have been partially protected since 2006.
Wildlife trade researcher Neil D’Cruze from the nonprofit Canopy told Mongabay that the new national decree, if effectively enforced, could bring enormous benefits for both conservation and animal welfare. “It will also be important to extend protections to other parrot species that are often used to mask the smuggling of African greys, ensuring traffickers cannot simply switch tactics.”
However, one of the provisions in the original draft decree — to end the trade in red-fronted parrots (Poicephalus gulielmi), as all three provinces have done — was strongly opposed, Hart said. Traffickers often pass off African grays as red-fronted parrots, which can be legally exported from DRC. But protection for red-fronteds was ultimately withdrawn from the national decree, Hart said.
He added that his group’s priorities include the African gray’s insertion on DRC’s list of totally protected species. “The front door has been closed, so to speak; now, all the back doors must be fastened.”
African gray parrots get complete protection in DR Congo
Un moment magique sur la plage de Cavalaire ! Depuis la ponte en juillet dernier, nous avons suivi avec attention la nidification de ces petites tortues… et ce matin, après une nuit agitée par la pluie et le vent, les premiers petits tortillons émergent enfin du sable ! Un spectacle rare et précieux pour notre littoral. Ces naissances sont le fruit de mois de patience et d’efforts pour protéger le site. Pour leur donner toutes les chances de rejoindre la mer en sécurité, merci de laisser les professionnels et les bénévoles encadrer ce moment fragile. Observer à distance, c’est déjà contribuer à leur avenir. Profitons ensemble de cette belle leçon de nature et de patience, en préservant la tranquillité des lieux. #Cavalaire #golfedesainttropez #TortueCaouanne #TortuesMarines #emergence #var #naissancetortue"