Gouritz Corridor Competes With The Best
The Gouritz Corridor and nature conservation areas in the Western Cape do not have to stand back for our overseas counterparts when it comes to establishing ecological corridors.
"However, in many ways we are faced with challenges of lesser magnitude than some countries."
This emerged at a 5-day technical workshop held in Cebu City in the Philippines.
CapeNature employee, Ivan Donian, who is responsible for establishing the Gouritz Mega Reserve, was one of the delegates who recently attended a workshop hosted by Conservation International.
"Where we tend to fail noticeably as conservationists in South Africa, is our inability to gain a significant and realistic understanding of the needs and aspirations of our poor rural communities for whom biodiversity conservation is a luxury which they cannot afford," says Donian.
"However, human wellbeing is intricately linked with ecosystem wellbeing in our direct and indirect conservation actions. It is critical therefore, that the three pillars in conservation - science, partnerships and human wellbeing (including poverty reduction) - are operationalised in our conservation actions," he says.
The establishment of ecological corridors on a regional scale like the Gouritz Initiative Project (near Gouritz) which Ivan is responsible for managing, sparked the process of critical thinking in the systematic integration of ecological processes and evaluation of socio-economic dynamics in conservation planning at this landscape-scale.
*One of the highlights was seeing three Whale Sharks (the world’s largest fish!) at close range while diving along the coast at Donsol. In March 1998, the Philippine government banned the killing and harming of whale shark.
WWF assisted with the training of private tour operators to ensure the protection and conservation of whale sharks.
