KZN conservation — saving at least two ‘birds' with one stone

Daily Maverick

07-05-2025

The future looks brighter today for two critically endangered flying creatures in South Africa, thanks to the establishment of a new grassland reserve in the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains.
A small but vital patch of high-altitude grassland has been officially set aside as a protected area near the town of Impendle, west of Pietermaritzburg in KwaZulu-Natal, to conserve the living space of a small insect-eating bird and an equally rare butterfly species.
This comes at a time when nearly half of all bird species in the world are in decline, with more than one in eight at risk of extinction.
The new iNkonjane Nature Reserve, covering just 180 hectares of land, is named after the isiZulu word for the Blue Swallow (inkonjanesibhakabhaka), immediately adjacent to the larger Impendle Nature Reserve (8,759ha).
The reserve has been established by the provincial conservation agency Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, to provide another desperately needed sanctuary area for these swallows.
Ezemvelo notes that the two reserves host four (13%) of the country's estimated 30 remaining breeding pairs of Blue Swallows, so the protection afforded by the new reserve 'marks a meaningful step towards ensuring the survival of this graceful aerial insectivore'.
The iNkonjane reserve has the added benefit of protecting a second critically endangered species – Pennington's Protea Butterfly (Capys penningtoni), a highly range-restricted species found only in the greater Mkhomazi River valley.
This is now the third reserve in KwaZulu-Natal established specifically for the protection of threatened butterfly species. The other two reserves managed by Ezemvelo are the uMvemvane Nature Reserve and Wahroonga Farm.
The butterfly's survival hinges on the presence of the common sugarbush protea (Protea caffra), the only plant on which the females lay their eggs. The caterpillars develop and pupate inside the buds, emerging nearly a year later.
Dr Musa Zondi, the provincial MEC for environmental affairs, said the new reserve also conserved valuable portions of Southern KwaZulu-Natal Moist Grassland and patches of Eastern Mistbelt Forest, both of which are under mounting pressure from commercial timber farms, agriculture and other development.
A further spin-off benefit is that this newly protected grassland habitat is also suitable for several other threatened species, including the Endangered oribi antelope, Endangered mountain reedbuck and Near Threatened grey rhebok.
In time, Ezamvelo hopes that these species, particularly oribi antelope, can be reintroduced here.
In a statement, the conservation agency said the creation of the new reserve was the result of a carefully negotiated biodiversity offset agreement between Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and uMngeni uThukela Water regional water utility group.
'This agreement was initiated to compensate for the environmental impact of constructing a new wastewater pipeline through a portion of the Midmar Nature Reserve. Recognising the significance of the offset, the KwaZulu-Natal Nature Conservation Board made an exceptional decision to temporarily waive its policy prohibiting servitudes through protected areas.
'This concession was granted on the condition that the residual damage to Midmar's grasslands be offset through the acquisition of high-conservation-value land and its incorporation into the provincial protected area network.'
There will be no fences separating the iNkonjane and Impendle reserves, which will allow the free movement of wildlife and the integrated management of a larger conservation unit, allowing for greater ecological resilience.
'The addition of iNkonjane Nature Reserve to the protected area estate brings the area of land managed by Ezemvelo to 518,628ha – about 5.5% of the province and the total protected area extent to 1,016,769ha, or 10.78% of the province.
'While still below the global conservation target of 30% land protection, each new reserve marks significant progress toward South Africa's international biodiversity commitments.'
The announcement also coincides with World Migratory Bird Day (10 May), an international educational and awareness-raising campaign that promotes conservation efforts for migratory birds and their journeys across borders. For more details, visit www.migratorybirdday.org DM