Funding secured to establish new community reserve

FENCING materials worth R200 000 are on the way to the Matenjwa Tribal Authority as the first step in creating a new community game reserve on the western border of the Ndumo Game reserve in northern Zululand. "It's enough material for 10 kilometres of fencing," says Sue McClintock of the Wildlands Trust, an independent fund-raising and project management organisation concerned with conservation-based community development in KwaZulu Natal. The area that will be fenced in is a 3 500 hectare piece of wilderness adjoining the Ndumo Game Reserve, with the Usuthu River (which separates Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa) as its northern boundary. The land belongs to the Matenjwa people and the creation and management of this new community park has been entirely their initiative. "The Wildlands Trust has secured the funding for the fencing and for future development of the game reserve," says McClintock. "The community project leader is Ndoda Mthembu who is working closely with the Wildlands Trust and KZN Wildlife community conservationist Mandla Tembe. A KZN Wildlife employee will train members of the local community to erect the fence." Once the fence is up, KZN Wildlife will take down a portion of the fence with the Ndumo Game Reserve so that game can move across. "However, they will only partially remove the fence so that only smaller game can move. A certain amount of game stocking is going to be necessary to make the reserve economically and ecologically viable." The creation of the Usuthu Gorge community park is also a step towards the creation of the super-park that will link all the existing reserves in the north of Zululand and Maputaland and eventually join up with reserves inside Mozambique. (Adéle Mackenzie)