I AM BECAUSE NATURE IS

KLIPINNBOS Nature Farm is a 60 ha stretch of land situated on the escarpment in the Mpumalanga mistbelt, with beautiful views over Schoemanskloof.

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Although this farm has been a part of our family for 7 decades, the more recent story of the land and us begins in 2019, when we moved here to restore the farm's many degraded areas:

 

   It was at the end of a multi year drought that we arrived here with our trailer load of belongings.

The air was dusty and mouldy,  fungal spores laying dormant everywhere, waiting patiently for the rain to revive them from their slumber.

   The site of the old stone house was a tiny little clearing in an ocean of wattle and gum trees. We knew that hidden amongst the invasives, a few pockets of indigenous beauty were still hanging on. As we walked the land, we discovered many more magical spots in need of help, thus informing our ecosystem restoration journey.

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Since then:

~ we've had more than 12 ha of gum and wattle cleared.

~we are doing regular maintenance weeding in those areas.

~are restoring our nearly destroyed wetland.

~have ringbarked hundreds of invasive pine trees,

~had a stand of encroaching pines burnt in a conservation burn.

~are extending the rotation of controlled burns in the grassland from yearly to once every 4 years.

~and started managing the water in the landscape for the benefit of Nature.

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Some of the cleared areas are regenerating exceptionally well, whilst others will need our support with reintroduction of native grasses and trees.

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Even though we have yet to clear another 20+ hectares, we already have an abundance of bird species gracing us with their presence, as well as increasing numbers of wildlife drawn to the regenerating spaces.

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