The Western Soutpansberg Nature Reserve (WSNR), covering 14 properties (eight landowners) and spanning over 11 607 hectares of critical biodiversity, was officially declared on 17 January 2025. The Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT) drove the formation of the WSNR, and this brand-new reserve in the Soutpansberg encompasses a Centre of Endemism, a recognised Key Biodiversity Area, a Strategic Groundwater Source Area, and an expansive Critical Biodiversity Area 1 and 2 in the Limpopo Conservation Plan.

The declaration of the reserve was published in terms of the National Environment Management Protected Areas Act in Limpopo Provincial Gazette notice 3635 (Notice No. 1013), and extensive plans for expanding the reserve are already underway.

The Soutpansberg mountains are home to an impressive 593 species of trees, five different biomes (wetlands, forest, savanna, grassland, thicket) and even fynbos elements. They also house multiple sacred sites, rock art and other archaeological sites, and are important for cultural heritage, with many communities celebrating their vibrant traditions in the region to this day.

Because of the important biodiversity, unique cultural heritage and largely intact natural landscape, the EWT became a landowner and initiated the Soutpansberg Protected Area in 2018, with a mission to formally declare large parts of the western Soutpansberg as a nature reserve, through the government’s Biodiversity Stewardship Programme. In partnership with landowners, the Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET), Ndlovu De Villiers Attorneys, Conservation Outcomes and ZZ2, the declaration of the WSNR completes a process started in 2021.

The Western Soutpansberg Nature Reserve Association (WSNRA) is a voluntary landowners’ association for landowners who are committed to managing their properties as a nature reserve as part of a collective. The WSNRA has been assigned as the management authority of the reserve. Each landowner is a member of the WSNRA and manages their property/ies within the approved WSNR Framework Management Plan, with activities including the management of invasive alien plants, local-community-engagement projects, environmental education and women’s health workshops in local villages. The EWT and WSNRA management are undertaking initiatives that include bush-encroachment work, fire management, invasive-species management and the development of eco-tourism initiatives, including the Old Salt Trail, which offers hiking enthusiasts one of the best ways to explore the newly declared nature reserve and showcases why the Soutpansberg is so special.

Work is also underway in collaboration with LEDET to expand the reserve by 20,000 ha this year as part of the EWT’s aim to create a protected area of 50,000 ha by 2030. This declaration supports South Africa’s commitments to the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 30x30 target of protecting 30% of the planet’s terrestrial and 30% ocean ecosystems by 2030.

Many of the Soutpansberg landowners offer tourism products on their properties, allowing nature-loving visitors to explore the WSNR and surrounds, with a range of offerings from five-star accommodation to overlanding camp sites and hiking trails. (Article and photos supplied by the Endangered Wildlife Trust).