Community reserve takes shape
New development based on the late Lawrence Anthony's principles.
ZULULAND conservationist David Bozas and his colleagues are hard at work developing the Mayibuye Community Game Reserve at Camperdown – a project in line with ‘elephant whisperer’, the late Lawrence Anthony’s belief that game reserves can only be sustainable with community involvement.
Plans have been approved and construction is now under way as the big five game reserve steadily becomes a reality.
The reserve will be half-an-hour’s drive from the Durban and Pietermaritzburg metropolitan areas.
In 2008, Peter Kennedy introduced Anthony to the land-claim site that they both agreed would be suitable for a game reserve.
Together with Lawrence’s colleagues, Bozas and Yvette Taylor of The Earth Organisation, they started planning the project on the principle of exchange – the community committing their land to conservation in return for education and commercial opportunities.
The project involves three boutique lodges, 210 luxury houses as well as 120 lifestyle units. Perimeter fencing will be in place by October this year and game introductions will follow, including the big five.
The reserve, which currently covers 4 600ha, will eventually expand and will have historic significance as it sees the reintroduction of wild elephant to the region for the first time in 150 years.
Development
Mayibuye comprises land taken away from residents in forced removals during the apartheid era and successfully claimed back through the Land Commission by the many displaced members of the Mayibuye Community Trust.
‘The development of Mayibuye sees the creation of a new interface between community upliftment, conservation and commerce and is being endorsed by both Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and the Department of Environmental Affairs as the new blueprint for conservation and community upliftment,’ said Peter Kennedy of BFG Retail.
To eliminate the migrant labour issue, BFG is in the process of renovating an additional 2 000 square metre factory situated on the Mayibuye Game Reserve as the first stage of its relocation to the project. This is set to be operating by September this year and by November 2015, BFG’s main operation will have relocated to Mayibuye.
It is partnering the Mayibuye community through an Equity Trust, established by BFG, and will see the creation of 150 to 200 new jobs.
