NEWS
Figure 6 . Karoo farmer PC Ferreira on his farm-cum-nature reserve , with the Seekoei River in the background . ( Photo : Supplied )
Figure 4 . The Seekoei river , in the Northern Cape Karoo . The sole surviving hippo .
Image supplied
Figure 7 . Richmond farmer PC Ferreira hopes to give Karoo residents like farmworker Steyn Bosman an insight into their deep San heritage through the establishment of a heritage centre in one of the 13 towns in the region . ( Photo : Supplied )
His conservation dream has run with the relative speed of a wildfire around his Karoo-Gariep Nature Reserve : buffalo , red hartebeest and eland were donated by Northern Cape provincial parks ; the 450,000 ha of the KSRNR – still a proposal – was included in the Northern Cape government ’ s protected area expansion programme ; and a research station hosting 12 students was built on his farm in partnership with the Biodiversity and Development Institute ( BDI ) in 2019 .
That same year , the first BDI citizen science seminar was hosted on Ferreira ’ s farm .
Figure 5 . The Seekoei River , in the Northern Cape Karoo , where , historical records show , hippos were abundant in the late 1800s . The sole surviving hippo can be seen just behind the reeds in the middle of the picture . ( Photo : Supplied )
“ However , Ferreira ’ s vision would be to add another component , tourism , which is still underdeveloped , further grow [ ing ] the economy of the area , which has some of the poorest communities in the country .”
Ferreira ’ s proposal has been finding favour with not only rural development players , but also with municipalities , academics and conservationists .
Les Underhill , BDI head and retired University of Cape Town statistics professor , says Ferreira “ is amazing ”, and that the institute has chosen to partner with him because he has an important vision : “ He wants his farm to produce food and he wants to protect its biodiversity at the same time .”
On the ground , roan and sable antelope have been introduced to the reserve , with Ferreira having the Hanover Aardvark Nature Reserve , a second nature reserve , proclaimed on his parents ’ nearby farm .
39 Grassroots Vol 22 No 1 March 2022