Conservation in South Africa

South African National Parks and various NGOs such as the World Wildlife Fund and the Endangered Wildlife Trust are actively involved in South African conservation and environmental initiatives.

Organisations like these seek to educate and use community-based projects and indigenous knowledge together as a more holistic and inclusive approach to conservation.

In addition to wildlife conservation, many of South Africa's indigenous hardwood trees are protected species too - these include yellowwood, stinkwood and ironwood. Ongoing projects remove alien vegetation and replant indigenous plants and trees.

Marine Conservation

In recent years, a major step forward in marine conservation has to ban driving 4x4 vehicles on South Africa's beaches. This practice unwittingly destroyed dunes and the habitats of rare marine birds like the black oyster catcher and critically endangered marine turtles.

Species like the loggerhead, leatherback, hawksbill and green turtles come up above the high-water mark on beaches to lay their eggs. These nests are vulnerable to damage, especially from unnatural factors.

Operation Rhino

At one point the world's rhino population was seriously dwindling due to poaching for their horns. The horns are used as dagger handles in Yemen and in traditional Chinese medicine as an aphrodisiac and to reduce fevers.

The Hluhluwe and Umfolozi reserves in KwaZulu Natal were founded in 1895, and are the oldest sanctuaries in Africa. In the 1960s 'Operation Rhino' was introduced in the area.

White rhino (square lipped) were caught and relocated to refuges in throughout Southern Africa. Today South Africa has around 6,000 white rhino from only 500 in 1960.

The black rhino is the most endangered rhino today. In the early 1900s they were by far the most prolific, but in 1995 it was estimated that there were less than 2,500 in the wild. The black rhino is slightly smaller than the white rhino, and its lip is hooked and prehensile.

Captive breeding and release programmes are proving successful with the black rhino.

Cranes

The African wattled crane is critically endangered, with fewer than 250 individuals left in the wild. This distinctive bird is easily recognisable by its long beak and the large white 'wattle' hanging from its chin.

Similarly, numbers of blue cranes, South Africa's national bird, are also declining. The main reason for this is habitat destruction, commercial farming and poisoning.

The South African Crane Working Group, established in 1995, works to prevent habitat degradation and to educate the public about the plight of these majestic birds.

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