The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve was formally launched in 2001 as one of some 400 UNESCO-registered biosphere reserves established around the world. It is the only “savanna” reserve of this type in southern Africa.
The Waterberg Biosphere Reserve covers an area of about 400 000 hectares and is home to about 80 000 people. The Waterberg is made up of an area consisting of low mountain ranges and escarpments with poor soils and a relatively low level of economic activity. The vegetation is dominated by different veld types, which are characteristic in mountainous savanna areas.
Tourism is the major source of income. However, people also practice cattle rising, crop production and, since the 1970s, have increasingly switched to game farming, hunting and eco-tourism.
The biosphere reserve concept aims to help strike a balance between the pressures of the tourist industry, the need to generate direct benefits to the local communities and the conservation of the natural assets.
Source: UNESCO – MAB Biosphere Reserves Directory
Vegetation of the Waterberg
Sour Bushweld characterised by African Beechwood (Faurea saligna), Common Hookthorn (Acacia caffra), Red Seringa (Burkea africana, Terminalia sericea and Peltophorum africanum) etc.
The steep slopes and cliffs with bare rock, home to the same tree species as above, also have Albizia tanganyicensis and Combretum molle.
The riverbank and freshwater habitats include wetlands and are characterised by Mimusops zeyheri, Clerodendrum glabrum, Ficus thonningii etc.
Farming activities include cattle raising and game farming, irrigated tobacco cultivation, mixed faming.
Animals of the Waterberg
White Rhino were re-introduced into the area in 1972, Black Rhino in 1990, Hippos in 1985, Elephant and disease-free Buffalo in the early 1990′s and later Lions in the late 1990s.
Some endangered species were saved by game farming for eco-tourism and hunting, e.g. Sable antelope.
Makapans Valley – World Heritage Site
Makapans Valley is one of only two Stone Age sites in the world that offered up an unbroken sequence of artefacts from the Earlier Stone Age to the Later Stone Age. One of the historic caves in Limpopo, the Cave of Gwasa, later (1854) became known as Makapan’s Cave, after the great chief Makapan who with several thousand members of the Kekana chiefdom by the Voortrekkers following an attack on a party of trekboers at Moorddrift.
Makapans Valley was declared part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in 2005, and is about 300 km (185 mi) from Sterkfontein, near Mokopane in Limpopo Province. It is one of 15 sites that make up the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site.
