Children from the Gereformeerde Laerskool, grade 6 and 7, learning to track a leopardThe Cape Leopard Trust (CLT), in partnership with Cape Nature, launched their environmental camp in the Matjiesrivier Nature Reserve, Cederberg at the end of 2009 to aid their efforts with their education and outreach programme. The programme, which began in January 2009, is primarily aimed at children, providing them with quality experiences that teach them more about the wilderness and themselves.

Various themes are explored at the camps including biodiversity, leopard ecology, human-wildlife conflict, animal tracking, geology, rock art and astronomy. The underlying goal for the programme and the camp is to help young people to develop an understanding and connection with the wilderness.

The CLT is an organisation aimed at facilitating the conservation of the Cape’s predator diversity which is a huge driver for South African tourism and nature conservation, through simultaneously implementing conservation, research projects and tourism initiatives. It also educates and encourages the youth to get involved in the environment. The trust is project managed by Quinton Martins, who is also one of its principle researchers.

Elizabeth Martins, who is married to Quinton and runs the Education and Outreach programme says, “Being aware of the environment we live in and being conscious of our surroundings is an important step in developing an interest and connection with the natural environment, both for the sake of conservation and for the well-being of people themselves.

“We decided to build the environmental camp because it’s important for children to experience and be a part of the natural environment that we live in. We also wanted an appropriate place from which to run our environmental camps; in the Cederberg mountain range there are various public campsites, but we needed a place where the group would be on their own. We have also taken special care to make the campsite itself an educational experience in terms of raising awareness particularly of water use through using waterless toilets and bucket showers.”

Leopard’s Leap wine is a main sponsor of the Trust, and has been for six years. “Here at Leopard’s Leap we are continually impressed with the dedication and resilience of the Cape Leopard Trust; for developing the idea and for taking a hands-on approach with building the camp,” says Hein Koegelenberg, CEO of Leopard’s Leap.

The current work of the Trust includes several research projects involving leopards in the Cape and elsewhere in South Africa, including a comprehensive conservation genetics project estimating gene flow, genetic variability and genetic relatedness among South African leopard populations. A key aim of this study is to determine whether the leopards of the Western Cape region should be considered as a unique genetic unit– a group of small leopards weighing up to half that of their northern cousins.

To date, research has taken place in the Cederberg Mountains, which have been declared a World Heritage Site and are now also part of the Greater Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor (GCBC). Further projects have now been established in the Swartberg/Gamka Corridor as well as in the Namaqualand region of South Africa and a new project begins in March 2010 in the Boland Mountains near Cape Town. The leopard currently fills the role of apex predator in the Cederberg and the rest of the Western Cape; however, its conservation status remains uncertain.

Thanks to the continued support of Leopards Leap, the CLT now has several sponsors and the work it has done has been highly effective and the statistics prove this - up until 2004 approximately 8 leopards were killed on average each year in the Cederberg mountains alone (up to 17 in one year). Since then, 4 years down the line, only two leopards have been killed due to human-predator conflict in this massive study area.

Within the 3000sq.km Cederberg study area there are currently 20 – 25 breeding adults, twelve of which have been fitted with collars, each of which costs R35,000 exclusive of vet fees and sundries. The costs of a single capture and darting operation could easily cost as much as R80 – R100k. Monitoring wildlife is an expensive exercise, and one which Leopards Leap recognises and is therefore trying hard to facilitate as much funding for the project as possible.

Visit the Cape Leopard Trust website for more information.