Umtamvuna Conservancy is making it happen

A new lease on life has been breathed into Port Edward’s Umtamvuna Marine Conservancy (UMC), as it has been added to the KZN Conservancies Association’s list of 86 active conservancies.

Concerned residents Renée Alcock, Bêrendine Jordaan and Helen Ueckermann noted that the Admiralty Reserve, a green strip stretching from Granny’s Pool to Salmon Bay between the ocean and Port Edward’s built-up areas, is overgrown with invasive alien plants, threatening to crowd out endemic and indigenous vegetation.

“We embarked on a pilot project of alien plant identification in the area, finding invasive vegetation like lantana, triffid, bugweed, arrowhead creeper, inkberry and Brazilian peppers. We designed a digital poster informing residents of the invaders and started an initiative to remove them,” said Alcock.

“We will focus on preserving as much as possible of the marine life, beaches, dunes, coastal bush and wetlands,” she adds.

The UMC employed Nhlanhla Yolisa, a former conservancy worker trained by well-known former resident and conservationist Cecil van Heyningen to assist with removing invasive aliens once a week.

The Port Edward and Banner’s Rest Ratepayers’ Association fully supports the project and has pledged to subsidise the labour cost.

Initially known as the Seaview Marine Conservancy, the UMC launched in 1989 as the first marine conservancy in KZN.

The group became dormant as some members aged, but the forward-thinking last remaining office bearer entrusted the conservancy’s funds to the custodianship of the KZN Conservancies Association in 2022, ensuring continued registration.

At a recent AGM hosted by the Beaumont Eston Farmers Club, UMC representatives were pleased to hear Paddy Norman from the Ugu/South Coast Conservancies Forum express delight at the UMC’s return to the list of active conservancies.

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