04 September marks International Vulture Awareness Day. Vultures have always had a bad rep – think Lion King? Meanwhile, vultures are nature’s essential workers. As scavengers, they are part of a clean-up crew that mop up carcasses and other organic waste, preventing the spread of diseases such as anthrax and botulism!

Human relationships with plants date back for centuries. Plants support life on earth provides habitat for animals and can be a source of medicine, with many healing capabilities. Many of the African continent’s population rely on traditional medicine for their basic health needs. CapeNature is proud of the relationships it has fostered with local communities surrounding the reserves who source their own medicine via plants

Kids – got something to say?

In celebration of Arbour Day 2021, CapeNature is giving away an outdoor solar pack to lucky winners with its Interview with a Tree competition. Kids play the part of the interviewee and get your friends, sibling, parent, or teacher to play the part of the tree.

CapeNature has joined a global-urban and community greening movement called ‘Plant One Million Trees’. Typically, these are linked to days on the environmental calendar such as Arbour Day, Plant Appreciation Day, Biodiversity Day, Earth Day and World Environment Day. This initiative seeks to boost these successes and bring them under one banner known as the Plant a Million Trees Campaign.

The Western Cape has just emerged from, in some areas, up to an eight-year drought cycle. This is linked to bigger global oceanic and climatic conditions. The poor rainfall resulted in low freshwater flows in the rivers and very little freshwater reaching the estuaries which are the receiving environment of the freshwater flows left in the rivers after abstraction and use in the catchment.

The critically endangered Caledon conebush, Leucadendron salteri subsp. elimense, occurs in an area of less than 9 km², in four small, severely fragmented subpopulations. It continues to decline due to alien plant invasion, ongoing habitat loss to agriculture, and wildflower harvesting.

A strong network of private and state protected areas has proved to be an important mechanism to conserve biodiversity and improve land management.

Ever booked accommodation or a camp site at a CapeNature reserve? Then you would know that we try to equip you as best we can before your arrival with lots of information. Amongst these would be the do’s and don’ts when in a nature reserve. However, not all of us are avid readers and sometimes these very important messages get lost in emails. The result is that we still find visitors littering, starting illegal fires and trespassing a number of “rules”.

CapeNature launched the brand new “LoveNature with Mbali” educational animated series today. Learners from Grade 4 to 7 can follow the live protagonist, Mbali, a 13-year old nature lover and her side-kick, the CapeNature Bot as they explore various conservation related topics. And what is more, the content is fully curriculum aligned.

For newcomers, Rocklands can be an intimidating place. Situated 25 minutes from the town of Clanwilliam, Rocklands can be viewed as rather remote. However, with the right information on accommodation facilities, rest day activities and grocery options. Rocklands can become much more accessible for everybody!

The Siyaya – Come wild with us series recently walked away with the highest acclaim - Best Documentary - at the Golden Bee International Children’s Film Festival held in New Delhi, India. As a first-time entry for any award, this extraordinary series, bridging the gap between young children and nature, was chosen as the category winner for outstanding children’s documentary. The festival drew 186 entries from 18 countries covering three categories: best documentary; best short film and best feature film.

The 2021 Rocklands season has seen some amazing sends and memorable events that have made this predominantly local season one for the history books!