Lessons Learned
With help from CEPF,
CapeNature used the power of knowledge-sharing and awareness-raising to enlist the support and vested interest of local communities for the establishment of the Knersvlakte Provincial Nature Reserve.
Elbe Cloete, Conservation Manager, CapeNature
What was the most important lesson learned?
Using awareness as a tool to successfully establish a formal conservation area.
Describe how you learned this and whether/how you have adapted your approach or specific project elements as a result.
Organizations have learned that to be successful in this modern day and age, the greater community from grassroots level to big business needs to be aware of its very surroundings, especially, as in the case of the Knersvlakte, which is part of the Succulent Karoo, those with very unusual and unique biodiversity. A broad spectrum of awareness in the area of the “planned conservation area” allows everyone to be enlightened and therefore to become involved with the future plans of the biodiversity in their region.
The awareness campaign was a successful one and it reached its objective to make the people of the Knersvlakte region aware of the importance of the creation of a conservation area. Past practice in terms of awareness would have seen the conservation agency solely taking on the task of raising awareness, but within this project, the joint efforts of the various stakeholders contributed to the effectiveness of the awareness raising through broader involvement and sharing of ideas.
The awareness strategy utilized in this particular project is like a template or roadmap for future conservation strategy implementation of new, planned conservation areas. This process of awareness facilitates the functions and activities of those who are responsible for the implementation of future conservation areas.
The process of creating a formal Knersvlakte conservation area involved long-term planning that was taken up by CapeNature and which was brought about through the awareness campaign and the collective cooperation with the pertinent organizations (Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust, World Wide Fund-South Africa, CEPF, local government, and local community organizations).
- November 17, 2009