A CONSERVATION project has put the spotlight on the road and other infrastructure serving the Baviaanskloof area near Port Elizabeth. The Baviaanskloof has been identified as a priority conservation area. Funding has come from the province and the World Bank to help conserve 500 000 hectares of the region. The project is being managed by the Wilderness Foundation, which has its headquarters in the Eastern Cape. “The Wilderness Foundation and the conservation authorities are as concerned about the state of the roads and the infrastructure in the Baviaanskloof as the farming community,” says the Wilderness Foundation’s co-ordinator of the Baviaanskloof mega-reserve project, Bool Smuts. “The road is a conduit to providing benefits to people of the region, as long as it is put to appropriate use,” he says. “We have common objectives to the farmers and communities in the area. People will only fight to conserve areas which they have experienced themselves. Inaccessible roads prevent them from getting to know the richness of the Baviaanskloof. Almost every region in the proposed mega-reserve area has concerns about the state of the roads. The development of the mega-reserve management plan will identify where the priorities lie and investment and energy will be directed accordingly with a focus on returns to biodiversity conservation. “Similarly, tourism development can only happen if the area is accessible,” he says. Tourism development will only be sustainable if the beauty and majesty of the area is preserved. This means that the Foundation will oppose inappropriate land use, including the development of inappropriate tourism developments which do not comply with the need to conserve the ecosystems and beauty of the Baviaanskloof, he adds. Why the Baviaanskloof is so important: The Baviaanskloof is a region of critical biodiversity, the importance of which is recognised globally. Six of Southern Africa’s veld types converge in the area. It includes three of the critical biodiversity “hotspots” – succulent Karoo, fynbos and succulent thicket. These vegetation types coupled with the aesthetic beauty of the kloof and the unspoiled nature of the area form the basis for a biodiversity economy, as opposed to a traditional agricultural economy that has been in decline for last 20 years. Farmers in the Gamtoos River Valley rely on the Baviaanskloof for the majority of their water. Water supply can only be assured through appropriate land use. The Nelson Mandela Metro relies on the watersheds in the Baviaanskloof for the majority of its water. The area has a rich and varied history of human habitation. The nature-based ecotourism potential of the area is vast, says Smuts.