The Table Mountain Fund (TMF) team visited the Overberg recently, to get to know some of the beneficiaries of the Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative (ABI) Small Grants Programme.
TMF Manager, Kerri Maree, and Carla Wood and Boitshekwane Kgantsi were treated to a roundtrip through the area, visiting three projects that benefited from the programme.
The TMF, an associated Trust of WWF-South Africa, has funded the Small Grants Programme since 2013. Eighteen community-based conservation projects received support throughout a three-year cycle. Each project received up to a R20,000 grant, to support conservation and socio-economic outcomes.
Projects visited included the Green Park Project in Greyton, a municipal dumpsite converted into a green haven to benefit the community. They also saw the Koornlands Breede Ecological Corridor, which is working to restore and develop the natural ecological state of the Koornlands River in Swellendam. Also, the Mind Over Matter project, which makes use of invasive alien material as crafts sold at the local museum, with the funds used to support either people living with disabilities, or parents of disabled children.
Following the three successful years, ABI will now bid for another three-year cycle to boost community conservation and education in the Overberg region.