The Mkambati Conservation and Community Not-for-Profit
Mkambati
Nature Reserve
The Mkambati Nature Reserve is a declared protected area owned by the Mkambathi Land Trust, a legally registered trust representing the 40,000 rural people who live inland from Mkambati Nature Reserve whose ancestors were forcefully removed off these lands over 100 years ago.
Mkambati Conservation & Community NPC is a not-for-profit initiative whose sole objective is to fund the ongoing costs of the conservation and community upliftment projects needed within and around Mkambati Nature Reserve as well as to assist with the considerable costs that will be incurred when the reserve is expanded into the interior.
Some people may question why there is a need to charge a park entry and traversing fee? There is international and local consensus that proves when protected areas have insufficient funding, they cannot conserve their biodiversity effectively, nor can they generate benefits for local communities.
All provincial parks in South Africa have had their operating budgets slashed by National Treasury over time, resulting in most of the country’s provincial park authorities not having adequate funds nor the manpower to do their work effectively. The recent rapid spike in rhino poaching in KZN protected areas is one of the tragic by-products of an under-resourced provincial park authority.
A 2023 Endangered Wildlife Trust report detailed the perilous financial state of the country’s provincial reserves. Even though the Eastern Cape Parks and Mkambati were, for budgetary and time reasons, not mentioned specifically in that report, they too are prime examples of nature reserves that are inadequately funded.
The sad reality is that conservation without cash is merely a conversation. A nature reserve like Mkambati needs money for it to be effectively managed and protected today and for posterity. We estimate that the 2025/26 annual budget needed to adequately manage and protect the northern concession within Mkambati and the expansion of the reserve into the interior will be between R3m and R4m.
The funds to do this work will have to be paid by people who visit the reserve, either overnighting or transiting through on foot, cycle or horse. This is the norm for how parks and reserves are funded right throughout Africa.
The Mkambati Conservation and Community NPC is the not-for-profit company that has been set up to provide that funding. To ensure transparency and full accountability, the board of the Mkambati Conservation and Community NPC consists of a blend of reputable independent board members and GweGwe staffers. The NPC’s accounts will be published annually detailing its source of funds and how those funds were spent.
Community NPC
The money needed to help fund Mkambati will be earned from a variety of sources
The Mkambati Conservation and Community NPC is the not-for-profit company that has been set up to provide that funding. To ensure transparency and full accountability, the board of the Mkambati Conservation and Community NPC consists of a blend of reputable independent board members and GweGwe staffers. The NPC’s accounts will be published annually detailing its source of funds and how those funds were spent.
Park Entrance Fee
The community conservation park entrance fees charged to everyone who is entering or visiting the northern sector of Mkambati Nature Reserve. This applies to all guests staying at GweGwe Lodge and all the hikers, runners, riders, cyclists etc who transit through the northern sector of the reserve.
The park entry fee is R600 per person per night, with South African’s benefiting from a 50% discount. Trailists who are booked and guided by a registered local Mpondo trail company pay just R50 per person for 2024 and R100 for 2025.
1% of Lodge Fee
GweGwe Lodge will donate a further 1% of the lodge’s gross turnover to this NPC. This 1% is over and above the 9% of gross turnover that GweGwe Lodge pays to the Mkambati Land Trust and ECPTA as part of its lease fees.
Donations
Donations from guests, trailists, corporates and NGOs.
Community Access
Supporting Local Mobility and Engagement
Local amaMpondo community members transiting through the northern sector of the reserve to visit relatives etc on the other side are exempt from all fees and will continue to be able to transit through this sector for free. Local amaMpondo guides and trail leaders will also be exempt from paying fees.
Trailists who are traversing along the Wild Coast and through the Mkambati’s northern concession can purchase their park entrance fee in advance by clicking on this link.
Privacy and nature
Trail Routes through the Reserve
Please note that GweGwe Lodge is a private lodge in a privately leased concession for its guests only. It is not a public facility and is unable to provide meals or drinks to transiting trailists.
If you are traversing through the reserve, we request that you respect this by avoiding the lodge precinct entirely by following many of the ‘jeep’ tracks, trail routes or game trails that route you inland and away from GweGwe Lodge and its beach.
This will allow you to experience the natural beauty of the Wild Coast without seeing buildings and associated amenities.
The map below shows the numerous ‘jeep’ tracks throughout the reserve marked with thin brown lines, with the suggested traversing trails with white dots.
