Young people in Fisantekraal are showing love for their river, and their care will turn into real conservation skills as they learn to become confident, responsible environmental stewards!
Western Cape, South Africa (04 October 2026) – The Next-Gen Nature Stewards is a new Table Mountain Fund-funded initiative from the Mosselbank River Conservation Team.
Over three years, five young people from Fisantekraal will be recruited and trained each year, joining the existing MRCT crew and learning from the experienced members who work with the river and surrounding environment.
The stewards will learn all kinds of environmental skills such as alien vegetation clearing, indigenous planting and plant propagation, seed collection, water quality monitoring and incident reporting, and site maintenance. They’ll also join weekly litter clean-ups and learn about waste management as they go. Alongside the fieldwork, they’ll build administrative and leadership skills, and help run environmental education programmes and community outreach!
The project will also help strengthen partnerships with landowners along the river, which helps keep the whole corridor healthy.
The vision is for the Next-Gen nature stewards to become a locally based river management team that can keep up rehabilitation, monitoring and conservation for many years to come. This will lead to increased biodiversity and ecological function along the river, plus young people with real skills and a purpose that lies in their own backyard.
The TMF is backing the project through its CARE Programme, with additional co-funding from the City of Cape Town’s Mayoral Grant.
The future of nature really does depend on the actions we take today, and these young stewards are taking steps for the better.
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