Save Suurbraak's Wild Spaces
Saving Some Of The World’s Rarest Flora
Eradicating alien invasives to bring back Suurbraak’s ancient fynbos and critically endangered renosterveld.
Native Cape is a locally led, non-profit conservation initiative working to clear invasive plants, help indigenous habitats recover, and protect the wildlife that depends on them.
From mountain slopes to foothills and riverbanks, Suurbraak is part of an extraordinary Cape landscape, where ancient fynbos and critically endangered renosterveld shelter an irreplaceable richness of life. We’re working to give this natural heritage room to recover—and a future to grow into. Each year, black wattle marches further across the slopes. Invasive trees crowd riverbanks, while tangles of lantana and bramble choke pathways through the vegetation. The intricate patchwork of indigenous plants is giving way to dense invasive thickets.
For us, this is home. For the wildlife living here, it is their whole world.
Native Cape is taking its first steps. We’re preparing our registration applications, opening conversations with Swellendam Municipality and CapeNature, and identifying where we can begin and whose permission we need.
There’s work to do before the first clearing day: site visits, planning, securing equipment and building the relationships that will help us care for these places over time.
Early support gives us the time and resources to turn this shared hope into practical, lasting work.
What your support will help us do
Clear and restore
Remove invasive plants, control regrowth and monitor habitat recovery around Suurbraak, the mountain foothills and the Buffeljags River.
Care for the life returning
Use trail cameras to document wildlife and install suitable bat and owl boxes where appropriate. Longer term, we hope to develop bird and wildlife rehabilitation as our capacity and approvals allow.
Share the wonder
Document the work through videos and photography, welcome volunteers, offer educational nature walks and involve local schools. We want more people to know and love the extraordinary natural heritage on their doorstep.
Create local opportunities
Work towards lasting employment for people in Suurbraak as the project grows. Explore responsible uses for cleared material, including suitable mulch for community food gardens or fundraising, without spreading invasive plants.
Plan for lasting recovery
Choose manageable sites, plan for follow-up and seek guidance from conservation specialists. Work towards agreements with landowners, including the CPA, and explore appropriate firebreaks with the relevant authorities.
We’ll develop these activities in stages, securing the necessary landowner consent and any required registrations, permits and approvals before the relevant work begins.
Headline
Every cleared space is a place we’ll need to return to, care for, and watch over as it recovers. Your support helps us make that commitment.
Donations will fund the people doing the work, tools and protective equipment, follow-up clearing, wildlife monitoring and the everyday costs of keeping Native Cape going.
We’ll share the progress and the challenges through videos, before-and-after photographs and clear financial updates, so you can see what your contribution makes possible.
Help give this landscape the time and care it deserves. Make a once-off gift, become a regular supporter, or contribute useful equipment and expertise.
We are in the process of applying for SARS Section 18A approval, which would allow us to issue tax-deductible receipts for qualifying donations. We can’t issue these receipts yet and will update this page once SARS approval—which can take several months—is confirmed.
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