KWS is located about 7km outside of Kleinmond Town – if travelling from Arabella-side. The property is situated on the left hand side of the R44 opposite, adjacent to the coast. It lies opposite “Lamloch Estate”. 

Click here to view KWS on a map

There will be a selection of exclusive educationally-based activities on offer. These activities include bird watching, nature walks, game viewing excursions and a few water-based activities like canoeing. We are also planning to include horse riding as part of our product offering. It will be a place of all things education, nature and adventure!

The horses have spent many years moving through the KWS property. The property was fenced in 2018 and numerous wildlife species were reintroduced to the farm, including zebra. The horses left the farm under the request of the Rooisand Horse Watch. We believe that it is in the best interests of the Wild Horses not to move onto or through KWS. We are required by Nature Conservation to prevent the possibility of interbreeding of wild horses and zebra. There is still plenty of grazing opportunity available to the horses along the beautiful bot-river estuary all the up to Kleinmond Estuary mouth. We have also left a natural corridor through KWS to allow the horses to pass through from one side to the other.

From an ecological perspective, KWS has made significant efforts in a private capacity that align with national and regional observational goals. We spent the first 2,5 years of the KWS project, clearing the land of invasive species such as Rooikrans and Port Jackson. This required a capital investment of over 6 million rand and the consistent hands of 25 employees. KWS actually achieved an award for transforming and rehabilitating agriculturally zoned land back to its original fynbos vegetation – a process which requires ongoing work. The alien-clearing team has been reduced to 12 people who work continually to keep the property free of invasive species and in its pristine fynbos state.

Keeping land clear of alien species has far reaching effects on water supplies – lessening the fuel load (and intensity) of seasonal fires passing through the area and allows natural vegetation and wildlife to re-inhabit the region. We encourage local farmers and land owners to invest into the clearing of alien species on their own properties as it has far reaching effects for community and ecology of the entire region.

Kleinmond Wildlife Sanctuary will also provide the entire region with a major in-situ custodian of the health of the Bot River/Kleinmond Estuary System. We aim to contribute to the bigger picture when it comes to Professional Estuarine Management as per the Bot/Kleinmond Estuary Management Plan – a legal document endorsed by the Cape Nature.

Benefits to Kleinmond town will follow in time and are those associated with nature-tourism. We believe that KWS will benefit the town, bringing more tourism-driven business to local establishments. We hope to create a destination that the whole town can be proud of – one that aligns itself with the values of the Kogelberg Biosphere. We hope to create an opportunity for employment and enjoyment of local and international visitors to experience the environment in a way that promotes conservation and celebrates natural beauty.

KWS will also create a number of permanent jobs for local people. We hope to enrich KWS employees with valuable conservation and tourism knowhow. We hope that our team will carry the skills, knowledge and nature conservation awareness they obtain with us, into the wider community. 

With blessing and tenacity, more Wildlife ventures shall leverage off the entrepreneurial spirit of KWS, establishing Kleinmond as a beacon of hope in terms of sustainable conservation.

Thank you for expressing interest in the developments at KWS. The project continues to move forward earnestly. Day by day, we are one step closer to welcoming you to our wonderful Sanctuary.

At present, you may have seen a few buildings from the road and possibly even an animal or ten. The land itself may even appear differently to how you remember it. So let’s talk about it!

Land preparation and rehabilitation
Before any infrastructural development could even commence on KWS, we needed to take care of the land. “Development”, quite literally, had to start from the ground-up.

Extensive work has gone into the preparation and rehabilitation of the land from alien species to ensure that it is in most natural and biologically diverse state to support the keeping of a number of endemic game species.

Game reintroduction on KWS
Eland, plains zebra, bontebok, springbok and kudu have been successfully reintroduced to the property. When it comes bringing wildlife to a particular property, one should introduce game that would occur there naturally or has occurred there historically.

Therefore, we say that the game has been “reintroduced” to the property as opposed to saying the game has been “introduced” to KWS. About 100 animals currently dwell on the farm and feed on the existing, natural vegetation – without additional feeding or supplementation. We are pleased to report that the animals on KWS are happy, healthy and thriving. This property has also been evaluated and approved by Cape Nature for the keeping of buffalo and African elephant. Following extensive consultation and land evaluation, the necessary permits for these animals have also been granted which brings us one step closer to welcoming elephants home.

Infrastructure on the property
The physical development (infrastructure) seen on the farm constitutes open night shelters, a guest reception area and offices. The Reception/Welcoming area will be open for guests to explore and enjoy – it is the building closest to the road. We have taken care to only build on ecologically-sound sites so as to not disturb our froggy friends.

We will be sure to let you know when we’re ready to open our doors. Keep an eye out in your local media for a press release announcing our opening. We can also let you know personally, via email. Simply subscribe to our mailing list for KWS updates and important announcements.

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We thoroughly appreciate your interest in KWS. We kindly ask that you will turn to our website for more information as opposed to trying to gain further insight it through other means. We have had occasional trespassers on our farm, both on foot and in the form of unsolicited drones zooming across our airspace.

KWS is a family-owned, private property that houses a number of wildlife species. We ask that you please respect our wildlife and the owners of the property. Trespassing and the flying of third party drones is illegal, an invasion of our privacy and an unsettling disturbance for our wildlife.

The KWS land was originally used to plant vegetables and farm livestock. It has subsequently been turned into a wildlife reserve. Over the years, we have reintroduced endemic wildlife to the farm. To protect our wildlife and prevent them from wondering onto neighbouring properties, KWS has erected game fencing around the borders of the property. The placement and type of fencing erected at KWS has been approved by Cape Nature.

The original fencing found at KWS was upgraded to game fencing. We erected our fences along the same boundary so as to not alter the existing “fence-footprint”. Our fences do not restrict the movement of small game between different zones and allow a natural corridor for the wild horses to pass by the property with ease.