Haarwegskloof has been declared a provincial nature reserve, securing the largest remaining stretch of Renosterveld and offering renewed hope!
Overberg, South Africa (20 June 2025) – In a landmark moment for biodiversity conservation, Haarwegskloof, home to the largest remaining stretch of Renosterveld on Earth, has officially been declared a provincial nature reserve.
Tucked between Swellendam and Bredasdorp in the Cape Overberg, the newly declared Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Nature Reserve spans 547 hectares of Critically Endangered Eastern Rûens Shale Renosterveld. It’s a place where Black Harriers soar, aardwolves and aardvarks roam, and rare plant species cling to survival in one of South Africa’s most threatened ecosystems.
Owned by WWF South Africa and managed by the Overberg Renosterveld Trust (ORT), the reserve is a shining example of what happens when science, heart, and long-term collaboration converge. The formal declaration was made in April 2025 by Western Cape Provincial Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell.
“This is more than a legal milestone — it’s a promise to future generations,” said Minister Bredell. “We have excellent environmental legislation in South Africa, but without passionate and dedicated stakeholders, it would mean very little. Healthy biodiversity buffers us against climate change, but it’s also simply the right thing to protect what is unique and precious.”
The nature reserve now benefits from the highest level of legal protection under the National Environmental Management: Protected Areas Act. It will remain dedicated to conservation, scientific research, habitat restoration, and low-impact eco-tourism, a beacon of hope in a landscape that has lost 95% of its original vegetation to agriculture.
CapeNature, which facilitates the legal process to protect such areas, praised the ongoing collaboration with the ORT and WWF South Africa. Dr Ashley Naidoo, CEO of CapeNature, described the declaration as “an acknowledgement of the admirable conservation work being done on the ground.”
“Through stewardship, legal support, and close partnership, we are securing some of the Western Cape’s most vulnerable ecosystems,” Naidoo said.
For Dr Odette Curtis-Scott, CEO and founder of the ORT, the declaration is deeply personal and scientifically profound.
“Renosterveld is often overshadowed by fynbos, yet it’s just as extraordinary – and far more threatened. With only 5% of its original extent left and most of it fragmented, protecting Haarwegskloof is absolutely critical,” she said.
Renosterveld is part of the Cape Floristic Region, a global biodiversity hotspot and one of only six floral kingdoms in the world. But unlike fynbos, Renosterveld grows on fertile soils that have been almost entirely ploughed for agriculture. The declaration of Haarwegskloof is a lifeline, not just for the plants and animals who call it home, but for the fragile web of life that holds the ecosystem together.
For more than a decade, the ORT has been working to connect and restore Renosterveld fragments across the Overberg. Their strategy involves securing voluntary conservation agreements with landowners, restoring degraded habitat, and building a network of protected areas rooted in community cooperation and scientific rigour.
“This is a win for conservation, a win for science, and a win for every living thing that depends on this unique habitat,” said Curtis-Scott. “It’s also a source of inspiration — a reminder that protecting what remains is possible, and that the story of renosterveld is not over yet.”
As Haarwegskloof enters this new chapter, it stands as a testament to what’s possible when government, non-profits, landowners, and communities work together, one patch of precious land at a time.
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