Our Projects
The Upper uMngeni Super Catchment
This is our flagship project. The idea is to focus on a well defined catchment, that being the upper uMngeni above the Dargle falls, and lend significant support to landowners in that approx 16,000 ha zone. Support includes:
Alien invasive plant removal (Wattle, gums, pine and bramble)
Protection of wetlands and riparian zones
Form and support farm study groups focusing on catchment sensitive farming practices
Support and market eco-tourism ventures that support conservation
Engage with timber farmers to establish and promote best practices
To start with we need to secure funding. Given that the uMngeni is a critical river supplying millions of people downstream in cities like Pietermaritzburg and Durban, we are looking for catchment specific investors who have a vested interest in securing their water.
The deliverable will be improved water quantities and quality at the outflow of the zone, which is at the Dargle falls.
The project is planned for a 5 year period. It will enable significant employment opportunities, improved farm land productivity, and shared learning for developing farmers.
For a full project proposal, please contact us at andrew@fowlerconsult.com
uMngeni Co-funded clearing.
As a start to our Upper uMngeni Super Catchment proposal, we are planning a team to offer subsidised alien clearing services within the upper catchment. Following postponement of the “Yes4Youth” program, we are thankful for DUCT who are arranging to step in to fill the void. The project is subject to finalising sufficient donor funding to achieve the three way model in which landowners receive a clearing price that now makes economic sense,. The service offering aims to establish valuable grazing value or other sustainable ground cover and erosion control in remediated areas. Unlike free government services the landowner will have control and contractual service level assurances, and the work will go beyond merely removing invasive plants, to focus on establishing competing grass cover.
If you or your company would like to add to the pool of donor funding to trigger the project start, please do get in touch with us:
andrew@fowlerconsult.com
faye@duct.org.za
Streamside Restoration.
Once initial clearing of wattle trees has been done, restoration of the natural grassland is required to prevent erosion, and to generate a grazing value for the recovered land. In areas that are very steep, or where significant erosion measures are required, this work needs specialist materials and skills. On the uMngeni, this consists of erosion mats , and “eco-logs”, as well as a climbing crew on steep cliffs. This portion of the uMngeni Super Catchment proposal has therefore been separated out and we are looking to remedy 27 small, steep, or erodable sites that are close to the river or its tributaries, and need particular TLC. A 5 year project proposal has been developed, and we are busy talking to partners….
Impendle Vlei Initiative.
The Impendle vlei lies near the village of kwaNovuka at the very headwaters of the Poort Stream, a significant tributary of the uMngeni River. This area falls within our Super Catchment Project area, and is also a habitat and potential breeding ground for wattled cranes. Our initiative aims to incentivise rotational grazing, that will take cattle out of this critical wetland during the crane breeding season. The proposal also employs an innovative leverage concept that involves incentives for a previously disadvantaged farmer’s Co-operative, also operating in the catchment. In terms of the arrangement the co-operative would receive a farming grant in return for winter fodder, and wattle removal. The project includes an education component for all levels from school to adult learners.
For more details contact andrew@fowlerconsult.com
Upper Umtshezi Project.
Upper Umtshezi Project
The Bushmans River (known locally as the Umtshezi), flows down from the Giants Castle resort in the Moloti Drakensberg Park, into a community who need our help. Their is a catchment that is degraded due to an absence of solid waste removal services, overgrazing, and invasion of alien wattle trees. In a vista that includes the towering Giants Castle mountain, the catchment cries out for intervention. The amaHlubi people who inhabit this valley have a proud history, and we aim to include eco-toursim and history to uplift the people, and simultaneously empower them to care for their environment.
Plans include a rotational grazing regime, and better markets for their cattle . We have identified a suitable tour guide and are teaching her the history of her people and the Langalibalele “rebellion”, as well as presentation skills. We would like to revive the local laundry business that does work for local resorts, and there is a farming initiative that has faltered and is in need of invigoration. Wattle clearing needs to take place, but, as importantly, restoration of grass and other erosion controls on some steep slopes.
For more information, follow the blog page on this site or e-mail andrew@fowlerconsult.com
Lotheni
The very upper Lotheni and Hlatimbe valleys offer a unique opportunity for a socio-environmental project. The area currently has a mix of commercial landowners and rural community members, whose interests are at times in conflict. The rural population is reported to have social problems, and poverty is the root cause of this. Eland poaching in the nearby wilderness area is also a concern. Two of the land owners are committed environmentalists, and the local municipality has expressed an interest in engaging on an eco-toursim concept .
This project is under development………
Mpofana
The Mpofana, or ‘Mooi River’, as it is also known, is unique in that it flows from the Moloti Drakensberg park, through a rural community area, then commercial farmland, then back into the park, and then into beef ranching country. Each of these has a different impact, but all participants are involved in eco-tourism in one way or another.
This project is under development.
Inzinga
The Inzinga river flows from the Moloti Drakensberg park, into remote beef ranching country, and then into an inhabited rural community. In its upper reaches it suffers in parts, from quite severe infestations of black wattle.
This project is under development