Donate
We must protect those ecosystems and animals that can’t speak for themselves. But we can’t do it without you.
Here’s how you can help
OR you can make a deposit:
Bank: Standard Bank
Account name: Nuwejaars River Nature Reserve
Account: 071024654
Branch code: 051001
Deposit reference (Let us know on which programme you would like us to spend the donation): Your name: Project
Please let us know if you make a donation. Send an email to Vanessa: admin@nuwejaars.com to join our Donor’s Club, so that we can thank you and keep you informed of how your donation is helping to make a difference.
CONSERVATION PROJECTS
Birders – see our spectacular bird life. But we need your help!
Birdwatching – at some of South Africa’s most impressive birding vleis. Well, in most cases, it’s been impossible – with the dams and lakes found on private land and not open to the public.
Now we want to change that. We want to build bird hides at some of our most secretive spots; areas where birders will see the most unusual and spectacular species.
But we need your help
It costs R40,000 to build the bird hide, and the walkway leading to the hide. With your support, we’ll build a bird hide that you’ll be able to access and enjoy (and you’ll see your name in it).
One strip of wood costs us R100.
How many strips of wood can you add to our bird hide?


Make history – Adopt a hippo on the Agulhas Plain
In 1850, the last hippo alive on the Agulhas Plain was shot. And so hippos became extinct in our area.
Until now, that is. We’ve reintroduced hippos to the Agulhas Plain and broader Overberg.
Today we have 7 hippos living in the Nuwejaars wetlands. They’re a family unit, with a bull, 4 cows and 2 young ones. And so we’ve made a bit of history.
Now you can too – by adopting a hippo.
Get feedback on your hippo’s movements, and receive cameratrap pictures we capture.
Our hippos are one of very few pods in the Western Cape. They’re curious, and regularly head to the shore to get to know their human neighbours. And they’re protected by our wetlands and vleis.
Become part of their remarkable return to the Agulhas Plain, by adopting your own hippo.
Adopt 1 hippo for R1000.
Or how about adopting all 7?
Support a herd of threatened bontebok – and join in on management actions
Bontebok used to roam across the Agulhas Plain. But their numbers dwindled, until in the 1930s, only 17 individuals remained. Ancestors of the NWSMA’s members fought to save these beautiful antelope. They created a few small herds, so they could breed.
Today the numbers have risen. But we face a huge challenge in securing their numbers for future generations.
Bontebok need large, open areas to move across to thrive. On private land, this is usually impossible, given farm boundaries.
But we’ve made this possible across the Nuwejaars Wetlands Special Management Area, where bontebok can transcend these man-made boundaries.
It’s our job to now dedicate this last remaining natural area for bontebok (this is their original home) to creating corridors to support bontebok movement. That way we can ensure our bontebok’s genetic diversity remains strong. (And be sure they don’t interbreed with blesbok).
Help us support a herd of bontebok.
Get info on your herd’s movements, and interesting trends we spot. And join when we work with the individuals (like treating any ill animals, or when we move animals).
Support a herd for R10,000 a year.

Become a Nuwejaars Wetlands SMA volunteer
Get your hands a little dirty; become a ‘researcher’ on our wetlands, through our fun volunteering opportunities.
What does it entail? Well, help us monitor our birds, animals and plants (even snorkelling with our Nuwejaars Redfin Minnow).
For more information on our volunteering programme, contact: erica@nuwejaars.com.