A proud history of conservation

ONE day, very long ago, the Nkomba conservation area situated within Pennington Conservancy was a dump – literally.

Today it is recognised as a site of conservation significance.

It is here where the likkewaan and bushbuck roam – very freely one might add – and founder member of the Pennington Environmental Group, Anne Jerman decided to make her ‘home’.

Founding  PEG back in 1986 along with her husband, the late John Jerman, Anne was responsible for having Nkomba recognised as a site of conservation significance.

In 1986, when John and Anne moved from Scottburgh to Pennington, the then town clerk, Joyce Mann of Pennington, was asked whether there was any interest in the environment of the area.

Anne, a member of the non-governmental organisation, Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, had worked in the Empisini Reserve at Umkomaas and wanted to start something for the local environment.

Today Nkomba serves as a testament to the hard work and effort put in by Anne and John, along with the fig tree they planted back in the 80s, which now towers above all other living plants, providing shelter to all forms of wildlife, hopefully including a few owls soon, as the caretakers have recently placed an owl’s nest up in the tree.

Anne was put in touch with Bob Charter, a then member of the town board, who immediately formed a committee of himself, as chairman, and five members.

Bobby Whitaker was the secretary, other members were Dennis Davey, Olive Ludwig, Roz Davy and Anne Jerman. The latter two  were most keen and found three areas of work – the Makamati Dam area, the triangle of land on Pennington Drive dividing Umdoni Road and Umdoni Road south and the Nkomba area alongside the Makamati stream.

Makamati was cleaned up and a path formed through the forest from the dam to Botha Place along the stream. The Triangle was also cleaned and indigenous trees planted while the main Nkomba area was planned – the area which, as earlier mentioned, was then town dump which was officially closed.

Working with the local authority, they retained a small area behind the stone wall at the entrance for their storage needs while it was agreed that the remainder could be developed. Surplus rocks from various projects formed the rockery and indigenous trees were planted across the site.

In time a footbridge was built across the Nkomba stream to create access from the formal Nkomba Beach site, where a braai area was established. An existing kiosk was deemed too isolated and vulnerable and thoughts of its use were abandoned but efforts were concentrated on landscaping the parking area with indigenous plants.

After Bob Charter there were many chairmen with differing ideas and Nkomba grew. Anne took on one of WESSA’s projects, known as PLANT – Plant A National Tree, and developed a small nursery to grow trees for Nkomba.

John became chairman of the PEG following his retirement as agronomist for the South African Sugar Association and he explored the route of becoming a conservancy. However, opinions differed and PEG was led to believe that the move would cost them all of their savings, much of which comprised donations specifically for Nkomba from the SASA. In 2008 PEG became a conservancy under the banner of the KZN Conservancies Association.

Continuing Anne and John’s work today is their daughter Carolyn Schwegman, who is no less committed than her parents. The family’s involvement in the Pennington Conservancy and Nkomba spans 30 years and they are still remembered today.

Carolyn, not too long ago, came up with an idea to place a bench in Nkomba in memory of her father. However, Anne followed suit and requested that another bench also be placed for her when the time comes, and that she be the one who decided where both are to be placed. Anne has yet to make the positions of both benches known.