​Our annual AGM was a fantastic evening filled with interesting conversations, inspiring talks and a wonderful celebration of the work being done across the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy.
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This year, we were fortunate to have two excellent keynote speakers, Nic Wiltshire from eCRAg and Barbara Seele from Conservation Outcomes, who shared their knowledge and perspectives on some fascinating and important aspects of conservation.

Discovering the Stories Written in Stone

Our first speaker, Nic Wiltshire from eCRAg, took us into the fascinating world of rock paintings and the stories they can tell us about the people and landscapes of the past.
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Nic spoke about the importance of protecting rock paintings, how their age can be determined, how they change over time, and some of the incredible information that can be gathered from these ancient artworks. Nic dubbed one of our newest Landowner Committee members, Michael Raimondo, the “super user” for contributing to the records of new sites in the area.

Michael has been doing incredible work recording rock paintings throughout the Grootvadersbosch Valley, including many paintings that had never been formally recorded before.

​As the new year begins, we’re filled with excitement for what lies ahead at the Grootvadersbosch Conservancy.

We certainly didn’t ease into January. A serious wildfire swept through the Grootvadersbosch Valley, turning the landscape into a scene of urgency. In the face of a threat far greater than any single landowner or team could handle, the community came together in an inspiring show of solidarity. Firefighters, neighbouring landowners, and support teams worked side by side, sharing resources, information, and support. Despite challenging flare-ups, the outcome could have been far worse.  We are grateful that damage to infrastructure was minimal, and even more grateful for the people who stood together when it mattered most.
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The total area burned was estimated at 6,310 hectares, including Renosterveld, Fynbos, and the forest boundaries (forests play a major role in controlling fires and cooling them down; that is one of the reasons we protect them!).

Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone involved, from those on the fire lines to those coordinating communications, to the many who prepared and delivered food parcels to keep teams going.

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.