Welgevonden Private Game Reserve
Welgevonden Private Game Reserve Information
The Welgevonden Private Game Reserve is a 34 200 ha, privately owned game reserve in the heart of the Waterberg in the Limpopo province of South Africa. It first started as a conservation area in 1993 through a private sector initiative that resulted in the consolidation of numerous private farms. Prior to the development of the reserve, cattle farming was the dominant land use practice, and although agriculture was limited, the old fields that were cultivated are clearly visible and constitute a distinct component of the landscape. Welgevonden was developed on the basis of a freehold title, with the reserve being divided unto 500ha blocks that were sold to private individuals, syndicates or corporates for the purposes of private or commercial ecotourism. There are currently 61 sites on Welgevonden, of which 53 have been developed or are in the process of being developed. Each owner is permitted to build a maximum 10-bed lodge per 500 ha subdivision and has traversing rights over the entire reserve, but does not have managing rights over the property. Collectively, the owners form the Welgevonden Land Owners Association (WLOA), from which a board of Directors is elected to administer the business affairs of the reserve. Management of the property resides with the reserve management who are appointed by the board of Directors. There are no internal fences, but an electrified perimeter fence restricts the movement of large mammal species onto neighbouring properties, and a restocking exercise was undertaken shortly after the reserve was proclaimed. A good road network of 430 km of gravel roads exist on the reserve, which is a mean feat on the rocky, mountainous terrain and sandy soils. The reserve is situated on the Waterberg Plateau and comprises mountainous terrain that is dissected by deep valleys and kloofs, with occasional old lands that have been allowed to regenerate since the reserve’s proclamation. Flat plateaus characterise most hilltops, and altitude varies from 1080 m above sea level at the main entrance gate in the north of the reserve to 1800 m above sea level in the southern section of the reserve. The proclamation of Marakele National Park and the development of the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve have added significant impetus to conservation efforts in the region. There are future plans to remove the fenceline between Welgevonden and Marakele, which will allow movement of animals between the two properties. This will make Welgevonden a key part of the core area of the Waterberg Biosphere Reserve. The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve was proposed as a concept that could integrate conservation and job creation, and was officially declared by UNESCO in 2001, currently covering an area in excess of 4000 km². The Waterberg region has a long history of human occupation and evidence of Middle Stone Age, Late Stone Age (San and Khoi Khoi) and Iron Age inhabitation has been found in the area, of which two rock paintings sites also occur on Welgevonden. Recent indications are that Tswana people have lived in the area since 250 years ago, but it is unlikely that high human population densities were ever achieved. The first known white travellers entered the area in 1808, and settled farms were established from around 1845 onwards. Since then, however, both cattle farming and agriculture have become sub-economic, and although a few specialised farming enterprises remain based on exceptionally good management and permanent water, conventional farming has largely been replaced by hunting and wildlife tourism. The combination of the veld types of the sour Waterberg Mountains and the sweeter lowland bushveld types historically supported a wide diversity of mammal species, but by the end of the 19 th century most of the large herbivore and carnivore species that were present in the area in historical times had been exterminated by uncontrolled hunting. Over the last 10 years, many of these species have been reintroduced back into the region into reserves like Welgevonden. However, it is reasonable to assume that prior to the erection of fences, populations of high-density herbivores such as wildebeest and zebra would not have remained in the mountainous areas during the dry season, and their permanent confinement in the mountains are not completely natural. This puts a huge responsibility on Welgevonden to have proper management practices in place to ensure the well-being of the animals and to prevent damage to the system.
