This project provides volunteers with the opportunity to go behind the scenes of a working game reserve. This diverse landscape of the reserve allows for a range of African game including rhino, giraffe, zebra, buffalo, wildebeest, Eastern Cape kudu, African lions and elephants, to reside on the land. Due to the coastal setting of the reserve and the sub-sequential high rainfall on the Wild Coast, the reserve has a larger carrying capacity of game in comparison to reserves in lower rain fall areas. The reserve is therefore bursting with wildlife and in need of various programs to monitor and assess the game and conservation in the reserve.
One of the main issues that effects South Africa’s eco-system is the presence of alien vegetation, this vegetation often damages the indigenous and organic system where it grows and actively prevents the growth and development of South African vegetation. The reserve needs plenty of manpower to help reverse the damage done by these plants, and to control the alien vegetation and cultivate the indigenous, through helping to maintain an indigenous plant nursery. Also, due to the vast array of local wildlife, it is a huge task to monitor the game, mammal and bird life over such an expanse of land. Volunteers play a big role in recording this data. Finally, the reserve is big and there is always plenty of general maintenance work needs to be done.
Volunteers will spend time on game drives and bush walks identifying species and monitoring the present game and other wildlife in the reserve. They get stuck in with general reserve maintenance tasks including fence patrols, field management and game capture, release and relocation.
The hands-on nature of this part of the project is a real high point: from learning about elephants in the elephant sanctuary and assisting with the rearing of lion cubs to identifying the hundreds of bird species in the reserve, wildlife lovers are given the opportunity to develop real skills and a knowledge of the South African eco-system.
Volunteers will also spend time helping to reverse damage done by the non-indigenous plants by controlling the alien vegetation and cultivating the indigenous, in the indigenous plant nursery. These plants are then used in rehabilitating areas of land that are damaged by soil erosion and previous poor land utilization practices. Alongside this work there will be informative lectures on environmental issues and the sharing of wildlife management skills from project staff.
The tour of ecology doesn’t end in the reserve; surrounded by white sandy beaches and rocky shores, time will be spent learning about coastal systems and marine ecology as well as supporting the local systems with beach cleanups.
