Month: July 2009

Strong images have the power to move us, change us and make us think. It’s with this in mind that the Wildlands Conservation Trust hold their annual Art for Conservation exhibition, auction and gala dinner. This year, thanks to sponsors Bonitas Medical Fund, guests will be treated to a feast of images on canvas, in sculpture and through physical movement. The exhibition has a predominantly African theme but covers a wide scope of art including wildlife art, landscapes, floral work, bronze sculpture, abstract work and human art. This year South African theatre legend Ellis Pearson, who was recently described by a Weekly Mail journalist as “a post-modern renaissance man”, and his partner Stumo Mtshali will be entertaining guests with a new, specially created piece to highlight Wildlands’ work in a production sponsored by the eThekwini Municipality’s Environmental Management Department.

Wildlands works on expanding the land under conservation to ensure limited loss of biodiversity and sustainable benefit for neighbouring communities. The Trust also supports a number of research projects including Leopard, Wild Dog and Elephant monitoring projects. Indigenous Trees for Life, one of Wildlands’ flagship programmes, is aimed at greening communities and restoring degraded forests and at the same time uplifting poor and vulnerable children and adults. The ‘tree-preneurs’ grow indigenous trees from seed, care for the plants until they reach a certain height and then trade them back to Wildlands for food, clothes, bicycles, agricultural goods and even school and university fees. The trees they grow are then used for reforestation projects around the country.

A number of caring and talented individuals have supported Wildlands year after year through their art, and have either donated art or allowed for significant percentages of their sales off the exhibition to be donated back to the Trust. Ian Van Zyl, Ingrid Weiersbye, Llewellyn Davies, Linda Lemon and Anne Cleveland are a few of the artists who will be contributing again this year. Some of the new up-and-coming artists exhibiting include Nicky Chovuchovu, Sizwe Cele and Itai Vangani.

For and evening of colourful African art, theatre and fine dining call ‘Party Planner’ Christine Bateson on 033 343 6380 or e-mail christineb@localhost/import-data-post. If you’d like to know more about all the artists exhibiting, please call Lindsay Sommer on 082 776 5446 and to discover Ellis Pearson visit his website www.ellisandbheki.co.za.

ART FOR CONSERVATION – Sponsored by Bonitas Medical Fund

WHERE: Sibaya Casino & Entertainment Kingdom
WHEN: 9th October 2009
THEME: Go Wild!

South of the Pongola river, the Gumbi Community recently made history by signing an agreement to proclaim 16 000ha of their land as a Nature Reserve. Somkhanda Game Reserve is one of the first community conservation areas in South Africa to take this bold step. Representatives from the Gumbi Community Trust, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the MEC for the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs signed the agreement.

The Gumbi community successfully claimed 20,000ha of land in 2005. 16,000ha of this the Gumbi’s consolidated into a single game reserve and 4000ha were set aside for the 650 families that comprise the community. The reserve consolidation involved the dropping of internal fences with three different farms.

“It was an undisputed claim and we had to decide what to do with the land,” explains Nathi Gumbi, Director of the community-owned Somkhanda Game Reserve. “This is prime wildlife land and we made a community decision to develop a game reserve because the habitat and low rainfall is not good for livestock or agriculture.

“Some land was also set aside for housing and subsistence farming for our people and we have a partnership with the eLan property development group, which is set to develop an estate on 200 hectares of our land. Money from the estate, the development of which will commence in 2010, will go into the management of the reserve.” Local non-profit the Wildlands Conservation Trust introduced the development group to the area and

brokered the deal between eLan and Somkhanda. Civil society; namely WWF – The Green Trust and the Wildlands Conservation Trust as well as

provincial conservation authority Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, have assisted the community through the complicated process. The organisations assisted with biodiversity assessments, management plans, and the donation of Black Rhino – a first for community conservation. The land is prime Black Rhino habitat and has been identified as vital to helping the vulnerable populations of the mammal in the area.

“We are proud of our achievements but we are also very careful not to raise the expectations of the community too much,” adds Nathi. “It will take a lot more hard work before we start seeing results”.

“There are currently two lodges operating at Somkhanda – Rolling Valley and Millimani. Rolling Valley has recently been upgraded and will be opened to tourists from September 2009”, explains Dr Roelie Kloppers, Conservation SPACE manager for the Wildlands Conservation Trust. “Current plans are to upgrade Milimani and to sign an agreement with a Joint Venture partnership to run both lodges on behalf of the community. This will not only create much needed employment for the local community and capacitate local managers, but will also put Somkhanda on the map as a prime tourist destination in northern Zululand.” Revenue generated by the lodges would also support the management and operations of the reserve. The reserve is expected to be officially proclaimed early next year once the proclamation agreement has been signed by the MEC.

Top left: Somkhanda Nature Reserve, Northern KwaZulu Natal. Lungile Ntuli (Ezimvelo KZN Wildlife’s Stewardship Programme), Vusi Gumbi (Conservation Manager, Somkhanda), Nkosi (Chief) Zeblon Gumbi, Dave Gilroy (Wildlands Conservation Trust) Nathi Gumbi (Director, Somkhanda Game Reserve signing an agreement that will proclaim Somkhanda as a Nature Reserve.
Picture Credit: Wildlands Conservation Trust/Maryann Shaw

Centre: Patricia Mdlalose (Head Chef) and Celiwe Nsibande (Housekeeper) aim to provide a comfortable experience for visitors to Millimani Lodge in the newly proclaimed Somkhanda Game Reserve.
Picture Credit: Wildlands Conservation Trust/Maryann Shaw