CapeNature – the Western Cape Government’s conservation agency – and the Grootbos Foundation have announced a formal partnership to address alien vegetation clearing in the Walker Bay Nature Reserve Complex.

The partnership will further provide skills training through the Foundation’s Green Futures College, the vocational training home of the Grootbos Foundation.

The two organisations also 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 physical task of clearing the invasive plant species from the dunes in the Walker Bay Nature Reserve area.

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.

Western Cape Provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, said: “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 000ha cleared on CapeNature land the past year, but the workers have acquired new skills enabling them to enter the job market more confidently.”

Owner of Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, Michael Lutzeyer, said: “Conservation works best when everyone is involved, and everyone 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.”