Care Programme

There is a growing community who practice inclusive conservation

The Table Mountain Fund is committed to growing and strengthening the conservation community of the Cape Floral Kingdom by facilitating the inclusion and involvement of new entrants into conservation. This includes, where needed, the creation and development of new community-based conservation organisations, the growth and support of existing conservation organisations, as well as supporting existing non-conservation focused organisations to become more environmentally conscious. The Care Programme is also about empowering the community to network and collaborate, to hold government accountable and to take on a shared responsibility to care for our natural environment.

The Fund best delivers on this programme through supporting small and micro grant facilities which offer financial aid in support of conservation projects being implemented by fledging community-based organisations. At times these micro grants represent the first financial support these organisations have ever received and allows them a well facilitated and mentored induction experience.

This programme aims to ensure that:

Already established organisations are more conservation-minded and implement new conservation projects
The conservation community grows through the start-up and growth of new conservation organisations
The conservation community has increased capacity, capability, collaboration and networking
Empowered communities perform necessary advocacy functions to ensure delivery and compliance regarding policies, legislation and plans.

The Table Mountain Fund aims to contribute R4.5 million towards the Care Programme, ensuring that by facilitating the inclusion and involvement of new entrants into conservation, the Cape Floral Kingdom conservation community continues to grow and strengthen.

Care Projects:

Nature’s Valley Trust Small Grant Facility

October 2017 – November 2020

Nature’s Valley Trust (NVT) has a rich heritage of engaging, training and releasing small community projects in the Bitou region. A small grant facility will build on this reputation, enabling NVT to identify new entrants to the conservation sector that aim to make a tangible difference to local communities and their environments. In particular, NVT aim to support projects that reduce waste to landfill, improve home-based community food generation, development of community eco-venture enterprises, and that see improved management of local coastal and marine biodiversity.

Grootbos Foundation Small Grant Facility

October 2017 – November 2020

Through a small grant facility, the Grootbos Foundation aims to identify new entrants to the conservation community in the Overberg and to support projects for creating sustainable livelihoods, social enterprise development, conserving the natural environment, environmental education and marine and coastal conservation. Projects supported can be in the form of a once- off intervention, or part of an on-going initiative.

Emerging Leaders South Africa Small Grant Facility

October 2017 – November 2020

Emerging Leaders South Africa’s (ELSA) junior programme LEAD NOW is designed for children aged 8-13 years old and carries the mandate, ‘to invest and equip a generation of productive youth citizens with the mindsets and skills to lead their lives and work together towards a sustainable planet’. The ELSA small grant facility will enable the LEAD NOW school participants to use their newly learnt leadership skills to run an environmental project at their school, enabling them to put into practice many of the skills that they have just learnt. With this funding, these children can learn what it means to take on the role of a leader in creating a sustainable environment for their future and their heritage.

Cape Town Environmental Education Trust Small Grant Facility

October 2017 – November 2020

The Cape Town Environmental Education Trust (CTEET) is changing lives through nature from crèche to career. There are three main pillars making up CTEET; the Environmental Education Programme, Training and Development Initiatives, and the Nature Care Fund. The latest addition to the Nature Care Fund is a small grants facility that will focus on working with communities around the natural areas in Cape Town. This project aims to create a greater awareness, strengthen leadership roles, capacitate youth, and grow and develop new entrants into the conservation space with the long term focus on the new entrants venturing into the Green Economy.

Dassenberg Coastal Catchment Partnership Small Grants Facility

October 2017 – November 2020

The Dassenberg Coastal Catchment Partnership (DCCP) is a landscape-level collaboration between various agencies in a priority climate change corridor. The strategic objectives for this conservation partnership incorporates collaborative efforts to promote climate change resilience and adaptation, conserving the cultural and natural heritage of the area, water security and unlocking socio-economic opportunities. This small grant facility aims to support civil society involvement in conservation by attracting new entrants linked to the Dassenberg corridor whilst aiming to catalyse local economic development and innovation in tourism and environmental protection.

Wolseley Water Users Association Small Grant Facility

October 2017 – November 2020

The Wolseley Water Users Association (WWUA) was established in 2008, in terms of the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998), as a co-operative association of individual water users in the upper Breede River of South Africa, who address issues posing a risk to the resource for the mutual benefit of all its members and the communities downstream. This small grant facility will aim to address the critical role of water as a key enabler for future economic growth and environmental sustainability, as identified in the recent upper Breede River Environmental Resources Protection Plan (BRERPP). It aims to achieve this through bottom-up economic incentives linked to alien biomass and environmental awareness initiatives focused on recognising the value of ecosystem services.

Whale Coast Conservation Small Grant Facility

October 2017 – November 2020

Becoming a TMF small grant facility has enabled Whale Coast Conservation (WCC) to use its considerable expertise, experience, partnerships and network of community contacts, to connect with and motivate people in historically disadvantaged communities in the Cape Whale Coast region to undertake projects that are related to the natural environment, and have the potential for initiating sustainable small enterprises. WCC is in a position to offer project development and mentoring, leading to capacity development in communities that are currently hampered by funding constraints from participating in environmental conservation.

The CAPE legacy project. SANBI.

April 2018 – May 2021

Cape Action for People and the Environment (C.A.P.E.) is a partnership of government and civil society – 38 organisations strong – formed around a 20 year vision for conserving and restoring the biodiversity of the Cape Floristic Region and the adjacent marine environment, while delivering significant benefits to the people of the region. With the timespan of the partnership’s founding vision nearing completion, the C.A.P.E. Legacy Project will enable a learning process for partners through a stakeholder-driven evaluation that looks back on the past in order to inform the future direction.