A community conservation group from Fisantekraal has been named a national winner for its work in wetland education.
Western Cape, South Africa (27 October 2026) – The Mosselbank River Conservation Team (MRCT) took the Education & Skills Development award at the 2026 National Wetlands Indaba!
The event was held at Club Mykonos in Langebaan from 19 to 22 October, and the awards were presented at the gala dinner on Wednesday, 21 October.
The non-profit was also nominated in the Stewardship category. The award it won recognises training, collaboration, capacity building and environmental awareness.
Founded just under a decade ago, the MRCT is made up of 35 community volunteers who look after their section of the Mosselbank River and its valley-bottom wetlands. Over nine years, the team has run education, conservation and advocacy programmes that bring local residents into the work of protecting their natural heritage.
Their activities include indigenous planting days, clearing alien invasive plants, citizen science and biodiversity monitoring.
“An important part of this is that every activity builds practical skills, knowledge, confidence and a sense of ownership. Learning by doing transforms participation into understanding, understanding into pride, and pride into a lasting commitment to conservation,” said MRCT director and co-founder Danielle Cronje in a presentation about how the organisation has built its heritage and legacy.
The award comes just weeks after the team launched a new youth programme. The Next-Gen Nature Stewards initiative, funded by the Table Mountain Fund through its CARE Programme, with co-funding from the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Grant, will recruit and train five young people from Fisantekraal each year for three years.
The stewards will learn skills such as alien vegetation clearing, indigenous planting, water quality monitoring and site maintenance, alongside administrative and leadership skills. The aim is for them to become a locally based river management team that can look after the Mosselbank River for many years to come.
Cronje said she was incredibly proud of her team.
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She also thanked the judging panel and the South African Wetlands Society.
The award honours the many volunteers who give their time and skills to protect the river and its wetlands, and who inspire others in the community to get involved.
The South African Wetland Society also congratulated the winners in the other categories.
Dr Alanna Rebelo, a researcher who uses remote sensing and ecohydrological modelling to support wetland conservation and restoration, took the Science & Research award. Hannes Marais, wetland scientist in the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency’s Aquatic Unit, won the Stewardship award, and Dr Jonathan Levin took the Young Professional award.
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