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Our Projects

KOGELBERG biosphere reserve

Educating and raising awareness with Kogelberg’s people

 

– Growing the economy

– Protecting nature

– Securing water

– Managing resources

– Wildlife rescue

It’s not only the environment that is negatively affected by poor land-use practices and unsustainable and harmful practices that affect our natural world. We as humans also suffer. Healthy natural areas are essential if people are to live healthy lives. As humans, we benefit when our ecosystems work as they should.

At the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve, we realise that by showcasing nature’s value, we can encourage healthy natural areas that can support wellbeing.

That’s why we run an environmental education programme, and why we work with many members and partners who run their own programmes. These are mostly focused on young people, as we help to play a role in instilling a love of nature in our future leaders. Our programme seeks to educate the youth on protecting nature by focusing on biological health benefits and ecologically sustainable practices as well as opportunities for job creation through eco-tourism.

OUR GOAL

To inspire a love for nature while bringing across the message of conservation.

The environmental education programme works primarily with the youth of Grabouw and Elgin (the Valley) and farming communities around these two towns. And the activities are carried out throughout the year.

For example:

 

  • We take young people from Grabouw and Elgin on regular hikes in our natural areas, where they learn about fynbos and animals that live in the fynbos, and threats to fynbos, including invasive alien trees, human encroachment and inhumane practices such as illegal wire snaring.
  • We introduce children to the diversity of our rivers, teaching them about river and water quality, how pollution affects not only critical ecosystems, but also human health.
  • We host tree planting events in towns in the KBR.
  • We take young people on outings to areas of natural significance, such as the African Penguin colony as Stony Point.
  • We continue to introduce young people to iNaturalist through training.
  • And a Lego project is underway in Kleinmond, with boxes of Lego donated by the Lego Group to 4 welfare schools under the management of Child Welfare Kleinmond. The teachers from the 4 schools also received educational training in Cape Town.

But our environmental education programme is not only about teaching young people. We also include a monitoring and evaluation leg – which guides our awareness programmes and allows us to answer the most pressing questions. For example, a survey with 250 people in 3 informal areas in Grabouw gave the KBR an excellent impression of how people view the natural environment, fynbos, fire and invasive alien trees.

We can already see that participants are enjoying the benefits of the programme. We see a mindset change regarding the way these participants view wildlife and understand biodiversity concepts.

It shows us that effective and ongoing awareness programmes are necessary to bring about positive change. It’s also essential that these environmental benefits need to correlate with lifestyle benefits to those affected by the socio-economic challenges.

Donate

We are a not-for-profit company and a public benefit organisation. All funds raised therefore go to meeting our motto: Nature for Life.

We can provide 18A tax exemption certificates to donors.
For more information, contact admin@kogelbergbiosphere.org.za

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Biosphere Living

If you live in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve region, you’re already enjoying Biosphere Life. That means you can already enjoy all that Mother Nature offers you here, in this incredibly special part of the world. MORE

 

You can take the next step, to become even more involved in the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve.

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