Kwa-Ximba community cares for the environment
Kwa-Ximba Conservancy has planned two more events to establish the quality of the biodiversity in the area.
A MAN passionate about the environment, forms a new conservancy in his Kwa-Ximba community.
The Kwa-Ximba Conservancy was started in October 2012 and is the dream of Simon Maphumulo, a resident of Kwa-Ximba which is a rural area near Cato Ridge.
It is situated on the banks of the uMzinduzi River and includes a few patches of remaining indigenous land.
Simon is an active member of Kloof Conservancy and wanted to use his experience in Kloof to help improve the environment in Kwa-Ximba and involve residents in environmental activities, including education.
In late 2012, Simon approached Kloof Conservancy to assist him to establish the conservancy. Kloof Conservancy is providing on-going support through the transfer of organisational skills and also providing resources.
The conservancy has a small group of dedicated members who have already held two major events and who have also organised a number of clean-up days to remove litter from the streets of Kwa-Ximba.
The first major event in 2013 was a Green Day when the team made a garden on the grounds of Nofimvela Primary School.
On the same day snake handler, Byron Zimmerman, gave a talk and demonstration on snakes found in the area to educate residents on the need to protect our reptiles.
The next major event was a joint venture with the Durban Natural Science Museum (DNSM) which was attended by several hundred school children from the many schools in the area.
The pupils were able to see first-hand some of the many exhibits of the DNSM and this was a unique opportunity for most of them that would otherwise not have the resources to visit the museum in central Durban.
The Kwa-Ximba Conservancy has some big plans which include developing a stewardship programme for an area of approximately 200 hectares which remains undeveloped and hopefully can be protected and ultimately turned into a nature reserve.
The team is planning to organise the Duzi-Kwa-Ximba Trail run through the stewardship area to raise funds for the removal of invasive alien plants and to build trails through the area in October.
A small mammal survey and a plant survey are also planned for 2014/2015 to establish the quality of the biodiversity in the area.
