The Greater Kabeljous area comprises the Kabeljous and Papiesfontein parcels of state-owned land positioned just northeast of Jeffreys Bay, as well as the privately-owned land stretching to the Gamtoos river.
The sustainability of this culturally and environmentally important land is currently under threat from illegal human encroachment.
Two independent reports have revealed that the illegal occupation of this land is a serious threat to the continued presence and future breeding of the threatened birds in the area (including the Black Harrier), and has resulted in "direct loss of vegetation, and potential degradation of the environment quality due to poor waste management and no formal sewerage treatment system."
There have been attempts going back to 1999 to have this land declared a nature reserve, a process that has been delayed by complex government processes. The Greater Kabeljous Partnership is in discussions with government, the conservation fraternity, and legitimate cultural groups to try accelerate these processes - before the natural habitat is irrevocably destroyed.
Until then, the Partnership will be raising public awareness on the importance of the area's cultural and environmental heritage, as well as its' potential socio-economic benefits for Jeffreys Bay and all the people of the Eastern Cape.
