The key educational aim is to promote custodianship and a caring attitude towards nature within all communities – for mutual benefit, finding common ground. Without this common ground there is no future – for wildlife or conservation.
Our education programmes and projects form part of our efforts to contribute towards the evolution of a new functional and representative attitude, to promote the notion of an inclusive “New Ecology”.
Our education centre is open to the public, and together with an educational tour empowers eco tourists, scholars, students and visitors to leave with enough insight and information to make a positive difference. Together with our projects we hope to engage people to become ambassadors for biodiversity and protection of habitats and species.
Wild Rescue will encourage and facilitate research to demonstrate how mutually beneficial outcomes within interdependent environment systems are possible.
Conflict Resolution
Our rehabilitation facility assists animals with injuries and problems often resulting from human/ wildlife conflict.
In education and sanctuary tours, we address conflict resolution and provide tools for the public to minimize conflict and improve the issue.
We focus on the wildlife situation specific to the Western Cape, wherein conflict occurs with animals which are found outside game farms or reserves. These conflict wildlife are medium to small animals such as caracal, jackals, foxes, monkeys, baboons, porcupine, wild pigs, mongoose, genet, snakes and numerous others.
Speakers, researchers and other stakeholders who specialize in conflict resolution protocols and methods will facilitate the dialogue and knowledge transfer between us and farmers, land owners and the public.
Locally superstitions still prevail with many people, and impacts negatively on our wildlife. Killing of snakes, tortoises, antelope and frogs is done without consideration of any ecological consequence or care for life.
Demonstration of how nature balances herself in wondrous systems, is one way of teaching respect and an attitude of custodianship for all wildlife.
One of the first scholars at Wild Rescue
Students are welcomed and encouraged to do botanical surveys and investigations on the biodiversity of Klipfontein
Projects
Projects offer access to, participation in and contribution towards conservation – the aim is to promote custodianship towards nature in an inclusive “New Ecology”.
Wild Rescue encourages research that promotes diverse participation in conservation to elevate the value of indigenous plants for food and medicinal purposes – and protection of all wildlife and biodiversity.
Projects can be scaled to function on a pilot project level, demonstrating possibilities and being a catalyst for positive change.
Research Projects for wildlife (flora and fauna) rehabilitation practice and protocols
Wild Rescue aims to follow best practice, and be a catalyst for refinement and change demonstrating adaptation and evolvement to restore our natural world (flora and fauna) and our thinking and value systems.
One of the wildlife rehabilitation areas identified for further refinement/ research is indigenous feeding protocols, which will impact on an animal’s physical and mental health, release success ratios plus many other areas of sustainable good practice.
Indigenous Nursery Project
Wild Rescue is situated within a special conservation area. This affords us the opportunity of ecologically integrating fauna and flora rehabilitation – enabling eco systems restoration for flora and fauna, innovation, advocacy of wildlife corridors and education for conservation and ecological sustainability.
Biodiversity is dependent on the health of the supporting ecosystem. The indigenous nursery will enable us to both rehabilitate our conservation area, and integrate indigenous feeding for our wildlife in the rehabilitation centre.
Thank you Gouritz Cluster Biosphere Reserve for seeing the value of this project and granting Wild Rescue a micro fund to start this project.
The project includes the following aspects:
- Species identification, location and suitability
- Seed harvesting
- Cuttings collection
- Rescues (from development sites elsewhere in region)
- Cleaning of seeds, testing of viability, drying, documentation, storage,
- Nursery soil mixes, conditions, containers, stacking
- Growing of seeds, cuttings, rescued plants
- Propagation of plants
- Feeding where appropriate to wildlife in rehabilitation facility or sanctuary – often in growing trays, replacing as often as necessary
- Transplanting where needed on nature reserve
- Donation to other conservation areas for rehabilitation purposes.
Indigenous Nursery
Benefits of Indigenous Nursery for Wildlife Rehabilitation
- Improve health and survival rate of our rehabilitated wildlife: Minimizing agricultural produce; use of water; toxins on food; rotting left over food; cleaning of feeding bowls; allows for foraging; varying the food types to simulate foraging practice (bio mimicry), removal of depleted “live” plants/ trays; no refrigeration needed. Minimizes mixing of urine and faeces in food; gives a diversity and balanced diet of indigenous fresh food – semi seasonal; can augment as necessary.
- This indigenous feeding protocol offers scope for research on wildlife food conditioning and release success rates due to animals’ ability to recognize and adjust to a wild diet – of benefit for all facilities in all countries.
- The aim is to develop best practice and standards that are scientifically scrutinized and to publish findings. We hope to make a meaningful contribution, where findings should have applications and use for game farming and improve the conditions for all captive animals.
Benefits of Indigenous Nursery for Conservation Areas
- Inga builds a plant species index with GPS location for Wild Rescue
- An opportunity for a full ecological survey of our nature reserve, and a platform for research projects on interrelatedness of all aspects: Plant species; fauna sightings; bird sightings; nest positions; fungi; insects; soil conditions and other variables in ongoing projects.
- Controlled environment of nursery enables us to provide more plants for conservation projects – own and other conservation projects.
- Provides a research platform for pilot projects with neighboring farmers to look at indigenous species based crop diversity, vertical stack farming and a new spatial mindset
- Extend the range of products derived from fynbos species eg essential oils, infusions, teas, creams, medicinal (small scale can be sold on our web shop)
- Pilot /symbolic projects exploring indigenous food types – relating to food security within a conservation context
- Opportunity for hands on conservation education, involvement and contribution with volunteers, school children, other groups and the public through innovative projects designed around our nursery and nature reserve program. Give-aways – small indigenous plants for participants.
Benefits of Indigenous Nursery – Agricultural Project Opportunities The Cape Floral Kingdom has the highest plant biodiversity in the world but is under threat. There is a huge shortage of seeds and plants available for rehabilitation projects and indigenous gardening efforts.
- It is essential for the restoration of this highly valuable biodiverse rich area, to develop methods to propagate at an agricultural level of “production”, and to develop protocols for other conservation projects to do the same.
- This will provide benefits and applications for conservation, economic development and livestock management practices and feed, for example, replacing expensive feed for game farming, and minimizing damage to landscapes.
- Other projects can focus on regenerative agriculture, supporting farmers with their biodiversity initiatives with plants, knowledge, access to networks and opportunities /challenges relating to future farming methods.This can translate into enlargement of conservation areas and wildlife corridors.
Community Projects
Community Projects
- The viability of conservation is dependent on human beings and involving as many sectors of society as possible. True sustainability is unlikely to be achieved if humans are separate from natare’s systems.
- Wild Rescue has an educational workshop space, a nature reserve, a wildlife sanctuary and an indigenous nursery which are available for projects.
- There is an opportunity for children through our conservation platform to simultaneously learn about the environment whilst developing multiple life skills through mentoring, projects and marketing.
- Recycling issues are included: How to avoid single use – to benefit self, society and environment by reusing; ways to earn an income – making bags for multiple use for veggies, shopping, mats, storage, decorations and other creative ideas.
- School projects – “Help us to help nature to help one another” projects
Special education projects throughout the year will be offered through a network of experts, for example, herb gatheringaon (on a limited and sustainable basis for candles, teas, incense, soap); herpetology (value of snakes in the environment); birds; mycologist; entomologists (what insects are dangerous, what is their role in ecology); vegan cooking with local herbs; caring for pets.
Online Shop Project
- Provides the opportunity for Wild Rescue to “Help us to help nature to help one another” project.
- Fund raising for Wild Rescue, for example, print on demand T-shirts
- Support for people in conservation to showcase their products and raise funds
- Mutually beneficial
GET INVOLVED
There are many ways that you can get involved with Wild Rescue.
To find out more, or if you would like to make a donation, click here...
To find out more, or if you would like to make a donation, click here...