The Clansthal Conservancy lies on the South Coast of KZN, between the Mhlongwana River in the north and the Mhlongwa River in the south. Conservancy members are made up of a group of residents, property owners and tenants who live, work and play at Clansthal and who want to keep Clansthal a jewel of the Upper South Coast.

Development Watch

Monitors current and proposed developments. We actively participate in monitoring the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, scoping processes and monitor the progress and impact of new developments;

Neighborhood Watch

We are implementing a pro-active policing system to provide visible policing, pro-active information gathering and building a solid relationship with SAPS Umkomaas. We can only do this with the support of the Clansthal community

Conservancy Watch

Marine - we are focusing on the inclusion of the beaches and inshore ocean from the Mhlongwana river mouth to Black Rock (mouth of the Mhlongwa River) to be included within the Aliwal Shoal Marine Protected Area (MPA) and for this area, linked to the areas to the north and south of us being declared a no-take zone so as to encourage the re-growth of all marine life;
Beaches - we hope you have noticed a difference in the cleanliness of the beaches over the past few months. In partnership with e'Thekwini Beaches department we have 2 - 4 cleaners walking the beaches and picking up litter. Many of the conservancy members do the same when walking on the beach. Become part of this initiative - you feel quite virtuous when you dump your bag into the bin!
Alien Weeds - we have cleared the whole area along the R102, the railway reserve, the Henderson's land and the beach littoral twice with other areas cleared more often... but the damned things keep growing.
Mhlongwana River - this is the terrestrial jewel of Clansthal. We are active in seeking to create some sort of reserve to the headwaters of the Mhlongwana. We envisage walking and possibly mountain bike trails, an area cleared of alien plants and where the river runs clear and unpolluted. Ultimately we believe it is possible to create a 20km walking trail that extends from the Mhlongwana estuary, along the river to the Hidden Valley's beyond the highway, parallel to the highway to the Mhlongwa, down the estuary to the beach and along the beach - what a walk;
Village Clean-up - we are planning to initiate this once our pro-active policing initiative has been launched. We'd like each resident to talk responsibility for the pavements and public areas opposite their properties and keep them free of alien weeds, litter and dumping.
The Clansthal Conservancy Trust - is a registered legal body that is served by five community members as Trustee's. The Trust is responsible for legal, financial and administrative advice and guidance to the Conservancy, and must approve all the Conservancy's spending. Financial's are audited annually.
Networking - boy do we have to network, thank goodness for Rob! One thing we have learnt is that there are an awful lot of bright people out there who want to help, advise and share. Problem is we have to find them first, often by hitting brick wall after brick wall. Then there is the real problem of overlapping areas of responsibility, scope, interest and pure bloody mindedness, particularly in the national, provincial and local government. We network in the following areas:

e'Thekwini municipality:
Environmental unit;
Planning;
Parks and Gardens;
Beaches.
Department of Agricultural and Environmental Affairs (DAEA) - national and provincial;
Marine and Coastal Management;
Oceanographic Research Institute (ORI).
Agricultural Research Council (ARC);
Ezemvelo Wildlife (old Parks Board) - local, regional and provincial;
The Conservancy Association (Rob sits on the Board);
Other Conservancies - Breede River Conservancy, Umkomaas, Pennington etc.
Crookes Bros. Ltd

Some of these are items should be dealt with by a Ratepayers Association. The Conservancy committee is actively looking for residents who might wish to start and serve on a ratepayers body which would free up the conservancy to focus on the environmental issues. If anyone is interested please contact us