Snapshot De Hoop

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De Hoop Nature Reserve

De Hoop Nature Reserve is situated in the Overberg region, between Swellendam and Bredasdorp in the Western Cape, South Africa. At 34,000 hectares, it is one of the largest nature reserves managed by CapeNature. CapeNature is a public institution with the statutory responsibility for biodiversity conservation in the Western Cape. De Hoop Nature Reserve is not restricted to land...found at the southern-most tip of Africa, it includes one of the largest marine protected areas on the continent. De Hoop is the largest conserved area of lowland Fynbos in the world and is classified as a World Heritage Site. Found within the Cape Floral Kingdom, De Hoop is home to over 1500 plant, 86 mammal and 260 bird and at least 250 fish species.

De Hoop is immensely popular with hikers, mountain bikers and nature lovers and has much to offer in terms of mammal (including whale) and bird watching, not to mention the diverse array of endemic plant species, including the famous protea flowers, pictured below.

Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust

The Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust is a non-profit organisation working with local landowners, NGOs, and conservation authorities aiming to conserve and manage the remaining fragments of indigenous vegetation – known as Renosterveld - found within the Overberg. The Overberg is a largely agricultural region between the towns of Swellendam and Bredasdorp in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Renosterveld is a critically endangered and highly fragmented habitat, with fewer than 50 fragments over 100 ha in size left, which are found almost entirely on privately owned land. Renosterveld is a component of the Cape Floral Kingdom, the smallest but richest plant kingdom in the world. This unique vegetation type has the richest bulb diversity on earth and has a large amount of endemic and threatened plant and animal species inhabiting this biodiversity hotspot. Renosterveld is one of the most threatened habitats on Earth and is in urgent need of conservation attention.

The Haarwegskloof Renosterveld Reserve, approximately 50 ha in size and the main camera trap deployment site of the Snapshot Safari – South Africa project in this biome, was a farm purchased by the World Wildlife Fund, South Africa in 2013 and given to the Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust to manage in attempts to conserve the Renosterveld habitat and all its’ animal species. Since then, they have built a Research and Visitor Centre and established self-catering accommodation facilities for people to enjoy this beautiful part of the world.