Yesterday, the Provincial Standing Committee on Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning received a briefing from CapeNature on the sour fig harvesting initiative in the Walker Bay Nature Reserve in the Overberg region.

CapeNature runs a permit system to allocate licenses for harvesting, and the communities immediately surrounding Walker Bay’s different parks are given first option when these licenses are considered.

The harvesting season runs every year from October to March.

CapeNature issued four permits for sour fig harvesting in 2021. These permits went to local communities, with a total of 132 beneficiaries. This allows the beneficiaries to enter the park and harvest the sour figs legally. The harvesting of sour figs for the cooking of jam, is a long-standing tradition in these communities. CapeNature also provided support through the design and printing of labels, as well as initiatives to grow the market for the products.

This brings a welcome economic injection into these communities.

CapeNature is also alleviating the challenge of unemployment by hiring 451 Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) employees, 64% of which are female. CapeNature employs these EPWP workers for three years. During this time, they receive accredited training in various skills. These skills range from fire-fighting, first-aid, alien clearing to front-of-house training for those employed on the tourism side. Walker Bay Nature Reserve also employs dedicated wood harvesting teams, adding another 85 jobs.

CapeNature also supports the controlled harvesting of buchu and honey tea in other reserves.

MPP Andricus van der Westhuizen says: ”The Western Cape Government is taking an innovative approach to ensure maximize the benefits from our Nature Reserves. At the end of the day, our parks belong to our people, and it is only right that they have access to all the benefits that can sustainably be derived from them. The Provincial Government is truly using every tool at its disposal to try and uplift communities wherever possible, and this initiative once again proves that the DA will never stop putting our residents first.

 

Issued by Andricus van der Westhuizen, MPP - DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Agriculture, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning