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Honorary Rangers

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KwaZulu-Natal

About the KZN Region Honorary Rangers

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Members of the KZN Honorary Rangers

The KZN Honorary Rangers consists of an enthusiastic group of people mainly resident in the Durban and Pietermaritzburg centers, although members travel from as far as Newcastle and Ulundi to attend meetings.

A common interest in wildlife and conservation and a desire to make a difference in the natural world in which we live, make this growing group effective and energetic.

Region Members Applicants Juniors
KwaZulu-Natal 20 19 234
KZN Honorary Ranger's meet every 2 months - on a Saturday

Older News

KZN HRs Funding New Hide at GG, (one putt at a time...)

The SANParks (South African National Parks) Honorary Rangers of KZN held their annual golf day at the Maritzburg Country Club recently...read more

Projects and Activities

  • Vulture Hide Golden Gate: KZN are seeking sponsors who can assist with the building of the centre.
  • Our annual Golf Day was recently held attracting sponsors and players from various organizations. The excellent prizes of this event are a great attraction- see gallery.
  • Public Education and Awareness Project: Displays were recently held at the Liberty Mall (Pietermaritzburg) where the public expressed a healthy interest in SANParks and conservation matters.
    Talks and presentations were also made at 2 Durban primary schools – Durban Preparatory High School and Morningside Primary School. The reception from the school staff and children was very encouraging and gives great hope for the future. Well done to these schools that encourage their children to actively participate in the creation of a healthy natural environment.- see gallery.

Juniors

Much effort has been put into the KZN juniors. With the appointment of facilitators at various schools, the exposure of children to environmental and conservation related matters has been considerable.

Membership

Applications for membership are welcome. These applications should be addressed to the Secretary (Eugene Joubert) at the via e-mail or by calling 082 682 4248.

Get to know the KZN Region

Our Region

The KZN province includes lush sub-tropical forests, towering mountains, wetlands and mangroves teeming with life, bushveld, sought-after provincial and private game reserves, rich marine resources, beautiful beaches, and farmlands situated in rolling hills. It is a world in a province.

Our HR Region, operating within this province, is unusual in a number of ways:

  • Firstly, we have no SANPark in it, though it includes a couple of World Heritage Sites - St Lucia and its Nature Reserves and the Drakensberg Ukhalamba region, as well as a number of Ramsar Sites.
  • Secondly, our region covers the whole province and draws its members from both the North and South Coasts, Durban, Pietermaritzburg and the interior as far as Newcastle. We therefore have to travel a fair distance to get to our meetings, which is why we meet bi-monthly at centres around the province. This also means that we have to journey great distances to do duty in a SANPark. It further follows that when we need to create opportunities for our Junior Rangers to experience Conservation Education, we need to seek the support of Ezimvelo Wildlife and WESSA, the province's excellent nature conservation services and are most grateful to them for what they offer us.

"Our" Park

Golden Gate is our nearest SANPark so we, together with other HR Regions situated around it, regard it as "our" park. We feel proud of it and are thrilled to see all the upgrading taking place there. We have been assured that it will all be complete by the time we, together with two other regions, host the 2010 Indaba there. The types of duty we do there are hospitality-related, especially in the caravan park at Glen Reenen, as well as assisting the Brandwag Hotel with stock-taking and various other duties like surveying trails. The fact that a public road runs through the park makes the collection of fees difficult and HRs help to patrol the loop roads.

Our Members

We draw our current 14 members and 6 applicants from many walks of life and take seriously the call for transformation. We currently have 20 qualified Junior Rangers, four qualified PDI HRs and two PDI applicants.

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Members of the KZN Honorary Rangers

Our Projects

One of our biggest projects at present is the 2010 Indaba at Golden Gate. Besides fund-raising for this, we also do fund-raising for SANParks which is contributed to whatever the NEC deems its most important current project. An annual golf day in Pietermaritzburg helps to swell the coffers.

We have recently embarked on establishing PEAP. We now have a trailer for storing our exhibition material and are still collecting more material, but like many other regions, we are awaiting information regarding the new laws on the possession and transport of products emanating from indigenous fauna and flora. As soon as this has been settled and the go-ahead is given, we wish to start a programme of visiting schools and shopping malls to raise conservation awareness - a very necessary project.

Junior Rangers have been operating since July 2006 with a number of Facilitators, all Educators in South Coast schools. This July the first group of candidates, who have met all the criteria for appointment, are going to Hluhluwe-Umfolozi for an educational trip. Their teacher and Facilitator have now joined the ranks of our HRs as well.

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PEAP Exhibition

Thanks to a generous donation by a German couple, their transport was paid for, and Ezemvelo is donating their accommodation and food. We look forward to receiving the new materials so that we can get on with recruiting other JRs.

We were involved in the establishment of an Environmental Education Centre at the Vulture Restaurant in Golden Gate National Park. We have organised with a local supplier to install a large cold room for the storage of meet and bones for the vulture restaurant. To date we have spent in the region of R 80 000 on this project. This project will now be driven by Des Bothma of the Free State Region.

Contacts