GKS INITIATIVE

The Kromme Enviro-Trust continues to monitor each of the local wind farms in terms of their commitments to environmental responsibility, with a high degree of acceptance and co-operation from the operators. We have entered into an association – the Greater Kromme Stewardship – with five of the wind farm operators to invest in conservation in the area by way of biodiversity stewardship..   All costs are being under-written by the wind farms. This initiative is setting a precedent for renewable energy companies nationally and it is anticipated that the outcome will be the preservation and protection of a significant number of the many threatened species of this part of the world.

This is an unusual instance of oppositional parties joining forces to establish a constructive and very exciting project. We are proud to be a part of it.

What is the Greater Kromme Stewardship?

In 2015 the Kromme Enviro-Trust entered into a formally-constituted association with the wind farm developers, known as the Greater Kromme Stewardship (GKS).  The GKS has contracted with a reputable environmental NGO, Conservation Outcomes, to manage the initiative.   A Stewardship Facilitator has been appointed to identify places of valuable biodiversity and to explore their possible protection with landowners: the facilitator took up his position in November 2015 and an associate was appointed in 2018.   The Stewardship Facilitator, Wenzel Coetzer and his associate, Anele Kumalo, have achieved extraordinary success in identifying our region’s most valuable biodiversity and negotiating protected areas around it.

The initiative has been identified by an independent evaluator as having secured more priority land for conservation in the area than any other initiative for the last fifty years.

For further information, contact Maggie Langlands on 082-458-8063