CapeNature, the Western Cape Government’s conservation agency, and the Grootbos Foundation have joined hands through a formal partnership to address alien vegetation clearing in the Walker Bay Complex and skills training through the Foundation’s Green Futures College, the vocational training home of the Grootbos Foundation.

The two organisations recently hosted a joint celebration to honour the group of CapeNature trainees who completed a housekeeping training programme and a group of 19 women and one man from the local community in Gansbaai who will take on the challenging physical task to clear the invasive plant species from the dunes in the Walker Bay Nature Reserve area. The event was attended by Minister Anton Bredell, MEC for Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning as well as the owner of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, Mr Michael Lutzeyer.

Both the Western Cape Government and the Grootbos Foundation have economic development and conservation as a common goal. Minister Bredell praised the partnership: “It is commendable when the private sector invests in conservation and takes responsibility for local economic development and job creation. Not only would the cleared dunes add to the 12 000 hectares cleared on CapeNature land the past year, but the workers have acquired new skills which would enable them to enter the job market with more confidence.”

The housekeeping training presented to 16 CapeNature tourism officials is based on the “train-the-trainer” concept so that each CapeNature official is now able to share their training and knowledge at all the CapeNature reserves with a tourism offering, extending this training reach to a further 100 employees in the first year.

Mr Michael Lutzeyer said: “Conservation works best when everyone is involved, and each person who lives in our village communities understands the value of protecting wild nature. We can all play a role in conservation, and we can all benefit from conservation by creating more green jobs, especially for women. It is easy to see the incredible beauty of the Walker Bay region - getting everyone connected to this beauty is how we will protect it forever. We value the support of CapeNature in sharing this responsibility for our people and our planet.”

“As the custodian of more than a million hectares of conservation estate in the Western Cape, strategic partnerships such as this one are critical for CapeNature to achieve its mandate. It’s a win-win for both the economy and the environment,” Minister Bredell said.