For many conservation projects, success is measured in hectares restored, invasive species removed, or trees planted. While these ecological indicators are critical, they overlook a vitally important question:
How does restoration change the lives of the people doing the work?

In 2024, we started implementing a restoration project supported by the IKI Small Grants programme, part of the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Government. From the outset, the project was designed with two equally important goals: restoring degraded ecosystems and strengthening the livelihoods and skills of the local people working in these landscapes.
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While the ecological outcomes focused on restoring forests, the project also aimed to create meaningful employment opportunities, build restoration skills, and deepen participants’ connection to the natural environment.

To better understand these social outcomes, we conducted a social and livelihood assessment among restoration team members who participated in the project.

Some of these results are summarised below

​The Grootvadersbosch Conservancy has recently launched an exciting new project called the "Comfy Cows" Initiative, aimed at addressing climate change while enhancing animal welfare on local farms. In collaboration with a progressive dairy farmer, the Conservancy is implementing strategic tree planting within agricultural pastures, creating a natural solution to heat stress and promoting sustainable farming practices.
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This unique partnership is a shining example of how conservation and agriculture can work together to benefit both the environment and the farming community.

Creating Comfort for Cows: Trees for Shade and Shelter
At the heart of the Comfy Cows Initiative is the planting of indigenous trees and shrubs within the dairy farm’s pastures. These trees will provide essential shade and shelter for the cattle, protecting them from rising temperatures and reducing the impact of heat stress—a growing issue as global temperatures increase.
Currently, farmers use shade nets to provide cover for their cows, but these require frequent replacement and maintenance. By planting fast-growing pioneer species alongside long-living, non-toxic trees, the farm is investing in a long-term solution that will not only improve animal welfare but also cut future costs. Over the coming decades, these trees will provide natural shade and significantly reduce the need for artificial shelters.
 
Tackling Environmental Pressures with Sustainable Solutions
The Comfy Cows Initiative is also helping local farmers meet the increasing pressures of environmental and animal welfare regulations. With growing global demand for sustainable agricultural practices, farmers are seeking new ways to ensure the health of their animals, soil, and surrounding ecosystems.
This project aligns perfectly with these needs by contributing to local biodiversity, enhancing ecosystem services, and supporting carbon sequestration efforts. Through sustainable tree planting, farmers are not only improving conditions for their livestock but also playing a vital role in combating climate change. The project is also creating additional employment opportunities for our newly trained restoration teams who are learning new ways to integrate restoration practices into sustainable agriculture.

A Future Opportunity: Indigenous Fodder Plants
 In addition to the shade provided by trees, the project has raised interest in exploring the potential of indigenous fodder plants—an area that is not yet well-researched but could offer valuable benefits to both livestock and the environment. As the project grows, this may become another avenue for collaboration with local farmers, creating a more holistic approach to sustainability in agriculture.
 
Comfy Cows: A Model for the Future of Farming
The Grootvadersbosch Conservancy’s Comfy Cows Initiative demonstrates how farmers can integrate sustainable practices into their operations while supporting both the environment and their bottom line. By investing in natural solutions, such as tree planting, farmers are taking proactive steps to meet the demands of a changing climate and more stringent regulations, all while ensuring the welfare of their animals.
 
This initiative is more than just a local project; it’s an example of how collaboration between conservationists and businesses can lead to innovative, long-lasting solutions. Through Comfy Cows, the Conservancy is showing that a sustainable future is possible when we work together to create systems that benefit both nature and agriculture.
As this project continues to grow, it will serve as an inspiration for other farms and industries looking to adopt eco-friendly practices. 

The Grootvadersbosch Conservancy is proud to lead the way in building a more resilient, climate-conscious farming community.

Earlier this year the Conservancy held its annual AGM where we celebrated an important achievement as an organisation - our FIRST internationally funded project! ​We were privileged to have Trevor DeRuisé with us from Lost Boy wines who’s gorgeous “wines from the wild” were a perfect accompaniment to our important AGM.

At the AGM we introduced our members to our exciting new restoration project, funded by the INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE INITIATIVE GRANT (IKI), also known as the IKI Small Grants Programme. The IKI Grant is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and focuses on climate change mitigation projects and on biodiversity and forest conservation.

The IKI project will be implemented by Corné Brink who joins us from the Garden Route Botanical Gardens in George.

Corné has a background in conservation, guiding and endangered species rehabilitation. Her experiential knowledge of successional ecology and the different techniques and styles of ecosystem restoration, along with her style of implementing holistic practices through scientific methods will assist in pioneering a standard for ecosystem restoration in Afromontane forest, fynbos and renosterveld in the region. She will be assisted by Goliath (Twakkie) Highburg and Jessi Venter.

Oom Twakkie has incredible knowledge of the Grootvadersbosch flora region and has a natural ability to grow anything put in front of him. He has incredible local knowledge to share with the restoration team and we would be lost without his wisdom and work ethic.

Jessi is our Nature Conservation student intern, who will soon be graduating, but staying on as a vital part of our team. She has always had a passion for conserving nature and she is extremely excited to finally live out this passion with our new Restoration Project. She is also our Social Media Content Creator and combines her love of photography with incredibly stories from the many GVB expeditions.

Now that Oom Twakkie is more involved in the restoration project, Ricardo (our alien clearing manager) needs more assistance with the ever growing alien clearing projects. This has allowed us to bring in Mzomhle Mtshintshi who has a background in forestry and is taking on the Quality Controller role (with the odd trip to the river for fish monitoring!).  

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Donations of 
🌼 White Yogurt Tubs 
🌼 Dark yogurt Tubs
🌼 5l Ice Cream Tubs
🌼 Cardboard boxes 
🌼 Newspaper 

would be greatly appreciated! 

And any donations of indigenous plants and equipment will also be appreciated! 

Thank you to everyone's continuous support for our work

It was with great pleasure that the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy got the opportunity to collaborate with the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) in their mission to collect and conserve seeds from our region to preserve them for a lifetime in the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP).

The MSBP is an international program where the main goal is to collect and conserve seeds on a global scale, with over 80 countries involved, including South Africa. The MSBP banks the collected seeds at the Seed Conservation Department at the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew) where the seeds are dried and kept in freezers under -20°C. These conditions make it possible for the seeds to stay viable for hundreds of years and be available to use when necessary.   
 
The aim of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership is to collect all plant species for ex-situ conservation and storage in the long term. Priority is given to the protection of threatened plant species to reduce the possibility of total extinction.
 
Field trips and pre-preparations are vital in planning and implementing the collecting of specimens and seeds, targeted species should be determined beforehand, and the team should also be prepared to collect specimens that were not on the targeted list. This will ensure an effective and successful field trip.    

There are multiple collection techniques that can be used when collecting:

• Plucking seeds of branches– a basic yet simple collection method for gathering and selecting fruits that are easily accessible to the collector.
• Pruning clusters of fruits – used if the fruit is out of reach or multiple fruits are present on a branch.
• Stripping – mostly used for collecting grass seeds.
• Shaking branches – effective for collecting dry indehiscent or dehiscent seeds by placing a tarpaulin beneath the plant or holding it while one person shakes the branch prudently.
• Collection from the ground – it may not always be advisable to use this technique because the seeds can be damaged due to pathogens or pests/insects. 

THE MISSION
On the 6th of June, the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy team joined SANBI for the collection of specimens and seeds of the outstanding species that needed to be collected. The SANBI project is led by Naomi Mdayi  and Sibahle Gumede with Yandisa Ndzeku (photographer and collector), Michael Ndovu (photographer and collector), Sihle Mvunyiswa (collector), and Sphephelo Kheswa (collector). They were joined by Goliath Highburg, Jessi Venter, Bella Liebenberg, Rachel Jacobz, and Marius Piek from the Conservancy to assist with local knowledge.

​​We started our journey in the Grootvadersbosch Nature Reserve Forest area where most of the forest-targeted species can be found.
 
Our journey did not go on too long before we spotted the first plant species to collect for the day. The team identified the species together (with the help of reliable identification elements) to ensure that it was the correct species. Naomi and Sibahle filled in the required data in the standard MSBP data sheet that records all the details of the species and its surrounding environment – soil characteristics, geology, slope aspect, and altitude. These are recorded for future restoration implications. It is a time-consuming process but essential to complete onsite to avoid any details being missed. Yandisa Ndzeku, Michael Ndovu, Sihle Mvunyiswa, and Sphephelo Kheswa oversaw the collection of two herbarium specimens for each species collected and of viable seeds where possible, using the previously mentioned collecting techniques. The collected specimens were temporarily put into plant specimen collecting bags and were later pressed in herbarium plant drying pressers.
 
These steps were followed throughout the day’s journey, with the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy team assisting in the identification of plant species and the carrying of specimens.  

​Specimens collected were as follows:
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Anemone vesicatoria – Blisterleaf – Brandblaar
Scolopia mundii – Red pear - Rooipeer
Podocarpus latifolius – Real yellowwood – Opregte geelhout
Canthium inerme – Common turkey-berry – Gewone bokdrol  
Ilex mitis – African holly - Waterboom
Chionanthus foveolatus – Pock ironwood – Pokysterhout
Phylica pinea – Pine Hardleaf
Elegia racemosa – Restionaceae 

​After collection and identification, the specimens are prepared for the herbarium. The process involves carefully placing the plants in a press with layers of press paper, to absorb any excess moisture from the species. This is important to make it a perfect pressed herbarium specimen. Once dried, it will be removed from the press, labelled with other associated data of the collection, and submitted to an Herbaria to confirm that all the data are correct before it is shipped to the MSBP and Royal Botanical Gardens. 

REFERENCES: 

​SANBI, 2023. MILLENIUM SEED BANK. Available at: https://www.sanbi.org/biodiversity/foundations/biosystematics-collections/millennium-seed-bank/ [Accessed on 5 July 2023] 

​The Grootvadersbosch Conservancy is home to three different veld types, one of them is the Afromontane forest. Along the Langberg mountain range these patches occur in an array of sizes. Sadly, like much of the vegetation in the Western Cape, these pockets are threatened by invasive plant species and the expansion of human activities, including agriculture. Where the conditions support forest habitat, we try to re-establish forest species that will eventually assist in restoring some of these afromontane forests.  

Our rehabilitation includes the use of a nursery where we cultivate seedlings and nurture small indigenous plants. We carefully remove a few small tree seedlings from mature and healthy forests, place them in containers and nurture them until they are mature enough to be planted back in the field. There are around 23 different species in our nursery, all irrigated daily and monitored closely by Twakkie (Goliath Highburg), the manager of our nursery.
We asked Twakkie to share some important lessons that he has learnt from his experience with the nursery:

A big issue that he has to deal with on a daily basis is the onslaught of the bushbuck. We treasure and adore our bushbuck. Often, we catch glimpses of them moving through our conservancy, and when we are not viewing them in our forests, we are scrolling through plenty of camera trap images of them. However, they are under the impression that any newly planted seedlings have been introduced just for their consumption. Twakkie has found that they will choose to browse on a newly planted tree from the nursery over an older plant of the same species. Much like us, they like new fresh food! The following list are some of the different ways that Twakkie tries to deter them:

• Once a seedling has been planted, he covers the plant with human hair. The smell of the human hair deters them from eating the plant!
• He sometimes places a cage-like structure made of chicken wire around the seedlings to prevent the bushbuck from being able to access the plant. However, this is quite a costly option and not suitable in all situations.
• He has found some success in planting seedlings in between long grass to stop the bushbuck. They are mainly browsers and will not find the hidden plants. If your rehabilitation site has long grass you will be at an advantage!
• Twakkie will often wait until the seedlings are large. Their larger size means they are stronger and can with stand the bushbuck’s onslaught. 

Here are some other general lessons that he has learnt:

• When he removes seedlings from the forests, he takes some soil from the spot where the seedlings were to ensure the original soil microbes are present when he replants them in our nursery.
• To water or not to water? Many plant cultivators debate about spoiling your seedlings in your nursery. Irrigating them extensively could lead to their demise once planted out due to the change in water quantity. Is it true? Twakkie sticks to a technique of not spoiling them by providing them with daily water but not over watering.
• Twakkie has learnt that allowing a plant to grow bigger in the nursery and then planting it out once it is more mature is often better than planting it out as a small seedling. It has a greater chance of surviving.
• Once the plant is ready, Twakkie will dig a large well around the newly planted seedling and replace the soil. He compacts the soil well to remove any air bubbles.  
• Our pockets of Afromontane forest can differ slightly in species composition. Twakkie ensures that any seedlings taken from one forest cluster are replanted in the rehabilitation sites surrounding it.
• Another crucial factor is to plant seedlings out at the correct time of year. We cannot actively water our rehabilitation sites and so its important to plant seedlings when they are more likely to get rain and when it is cooler, which is the autumn months (April-June).
• Twakkie tries to follow the natural succession of forests. Sites will have their alien invasive species removed and the area will be burnt (a cool burn is best). The area then rests, allowing nature to select the best forest species to return naturally. He plants out pioneer species to speed up the recovery and from there allows the forests to grow a secondary community and finally a climax community.

 
While we do plant out seedlings from our nursery, Twakkie has also found that nature is often the best rehabilitator and we can simply help to support this process. Instead of actively planting seedlings from a nursery, it may be best to focus on protecting clusters of adult trees close to a cleared area. Birds or baboons will eat the seeds from these mature trees and disperse the seeds. Over time, the tree species will germinate and the forest will return, naturally. Ensuring that the area remains clear of invasive plants and giving nature a chance to recover may be more effective and less costly than actively trying to propagate and plant out tree seedlings. Twakkie has also been involved in rehabilitation where we maintain a canopy of mature invasive trees that provide a pioneer environment to shelter the young tree seedlings that have naturally germinated. Over time, the indigenous trees become more dominant and the invasive trees are then slowly removed.  

We are learning new things every day and there is no clear recipe for successful forest rehabilitation. These are just some of his lessons from our area. Comment below on what lessons you have learnt, we are always looking for new and interesting ways to aid our success! Any advice would be appreciated.
 

In December, we were able to host an erosion control demonstration with best pratice on how to utilise erosion control material. Thank you to Heidi Nieuwoudt and Chris Maartens. The following files were shared to assist with planning.