Southern Cape Landowners Initiative (SCLI)

Southern Cape Landowners Initiative (SCLI)

In this month’s #TMFInTheField we introduce you to The Southern Cape Landowners Initiative (SCLI).

The SCLI is all about enlarging the Southern Cape conservation footprint, by creating weed-free corridors and landscapes. Through the establishment of working relationships between landowners and land managers, who have an interest in the control and eradication of invasive alien plants, SCLI is developing better coordinated mechanisms and larger conservation corridors.

Invasive alien plant control and eradication may not be an appealing subject to address (in terms of conservation), but is a crucial one to the present and future preservation of the Fynbos biome, as well as the ecological wellbeing of our mountain kingdom and coastal plateau, that supports it.  Vast in scale, and resilient and formidable by nature, invasive alien plants (IAPs) increasingly pose a threat to what remains of indigenous Fynbos and coastal flora ecosystems. 

TMF Support:

TMF funding was granted to help SCLI to bridge co-operation between the various stakeholders and SCLI’s focus is now on coordinating and facilitating the communication between these various organisations, groups and private entities.

Some of SCLI’s achievements to date, include:  

• The establishment of a not-for-profit entity, creating well over 100 semi permanent jobs, and acting as an implementing agent for the Department of Environmental Affairs
• Establishment of the CareTaker initiative, which gives (visible) recognition to landowners and land managers who actively invest in the clearing and eradication of invasive alien plants
• Spearheading the formation of the Forestry Revitalization Working Group. This grouping consolidates all forestry, local and regional forestry entities, efforts towards better land management and land conservation.
• Spearheading the Milkwood Preservation Campaign, aimed at conserving coastal Milkwood forests.
• Creating a stake holder database of close to 300 effected and participating entities and individuals
• Building a partnership of the 10 most prominent (regional and national) landowners and land managers, and binding them together in a collaborative partnership, through a memorandum of agreement.