An apparent lack of municipal management and preservation of the 10-year-old Papegaaiberg Nature Reserve in Stellenbosch has been the focus of a citizen science conservation initiative this month.
Citizen scientists and residents gather at Papegaaiberg Nature Reserve in Stellenbosch to take part in the second BioBlitz event on 22 August, recording species as part of an ongoing effort to document the reserve’s biodiversity. PHOTO: Jade Wainwright
The BioBlitz initiative, held at the reserve on 1 and 22 August, was started by Prof Ruan Veldtman, a senior scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and associate professor in the department of conservation ecology and entomology at Stellenbosch University (SU).
According to Veldtman, a BioBlitz involves photographing and recording as many species as possible within a short timeframe to build a public record of a site’s biodiversity.
He presented the findings from the two BioBlitz’s at a public lecture on 24 August at the Roadhouse Cinema in the Neelsie Student Centre.
Veldtman said that some of the biggest pressures facing the reserve include a lack of municipal management, illegal dumping, and a proliferation of alien plants, among others.
He also said the reserve is one of the last few remaining areas containing the highly threatened Renosterveld (a mediterranean type shrubland) with less than 5% of the vegetation type left in the entire Western Cape region.
“It’s not a valued space,” Veldtman said. “And because of that, it’s being degraded over time.”
The Papegaaiberg BioBlitz initiative was started by Prof Ruan Veldtman, a senior scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute and associate professor in the department of conservation ecology and entomology at Stellenbosch University. According to Veldtman, a BioBlitz aims to build a public record of a site’s biodiversity through volunteers photographing and recording as many species as possible within a short timeframe. PHOTO: Jade Wainwright
Concerns about the reserve’s management are not new.
In 2023, a petition signed by 9 832 residents and tourists was submitted to the Stellenbosch Municipality calling for better protection and security in the reserve, according to Karin Coetzee, chairperson of the petition committee.
Coetzee said that in 2025, a public participation process commissioned by the municipality in collaboration with Visit Stellenbosch was conducted to explore establishing tourism in the reserve.
According to Coetzee, the process found that many residents in Stellenbosch and the surrounding communities of Onder Papegaaiberg and Kayamandi supported protecting and securing the reserve. The council initially accepted the resulting report, however Coetzee said the plan was later rejected at a mayoral committee meeting.
Responding to concerns regarding municipal management, Stuart Grobbelaar, communications manager at Stellenbosch Municipality, said a private meeting between Onder Papegaaiberg representatives, Cape Nature, a governmental conservation agency responsible for protecting reserves and wilderness areas in the Western Cape, and the municipality took place in January 2024.
The meeting resulted in an agreed action plan targeting access control, fencing, signage, illegal dumping, and tourism, according to Grobbelaar.
Coetzee, however, said she and other community residents have no knowledge of any such meeting having taken place.
“The public certainly were not invited,” she said. “I don’t know if it was only the municipality sort of management and Cape Nature, but nothing has happened since then anyways, […] especially about the safety and security.”
When SMF News asked Grobbelaar how the municipality communicated this meeting and subsequent action plan to the community, he did not respond in time for publication.
Illegal dumping at Papegaaiberg Nature Reserve remains one of several concerns raised by residents and researchers over the site’s management. PHOTO: Jade Wainwright
Grobbelaar had previously noted that the municipality takes the management and protection of the reserve seriously.
“The Municipality welcomes assistance, support and volunteers who want to contribute to the ongoing management, protection and improvement of the reserve,” he said.