Where We Work
Care for Wild’s work extends far beyond the rehabilitation of orphaned rhinos. It encompasses the long-term protection, management and restoration of a globally significant conservation landscape where wildlife, biodiversity and ecological processes can recover and thrive.
Stewardship of a Legally Protected Landscape
Through South Africa’s first co-management agreement of its kind with the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA), Care for Wild shares responsibility for the management of the 20,000-hectare Barberton Nature Reserve. Situated within the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains UNESCO World Heritage Site, this legally protected area forms part of one of the oldest and most scientifically important landscapes on Earth.
Recognised by UNESCO for its Outstanding Universal Value, the Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains preserve some of the world’s oldest and best-preserved exposed rock. The reserve also forms part of the Barberton Centre of Plant Endemism, an area of exceptional botanical diversity that supports rare and endemic plant species found nowhere else on Earth. Protected legally under South African environmental legislation and through its World Heritage status, it provides a secure, permanent foundation for long-term conservation.
For Care for Wild, this landscape provides rehabilitated rhinos with the space to establish territories, breed naturally and once again fulfil their ecological role within a functioning ecosystem.
The co-management agreement reflects the confidence placed in Care for Wild’s technical expertise, operational capacity and long-term commitment to conservation. It also demonstrates the organisation’s ability to deliver conservation at landscape scale through collaborative partnerships with government and other stakeholders.
Landscape & Ecosystem Management
Protected areas require active, continuous management to maintain healthy, resilient ecosystems capable of sustaining biodiversity over generations.
Care for Wild manages every aspect of the protected landscape under its care, including secure perimeter fencing and conservation infrastructure, invasive alien plant control, water resource management, ecological burning programmes, habitat restoration and environmental rehabilitation.
Wildlife populations, vegetation health, carrying capacity, habitat condition and ecosystem processes are continually monitored to inform adaptive management. This science-led approach enables conservation decisions to be guided by ecological data, ensuring the long- term health, resilience and integrity of the landscape.
An Integrated Approach to Conservation
Long-term conservation depends on far more than protecting wildlife alone. It requires an integrated approach that recognises the relationship between healthy ecosystems, effective protection and thriving neighbouring communities.
Care for Wild’s conservation model combines environmental stewardship, ecological management, operational security, wildlife monitoring and meaningful community partnerships to protect both biodiversity and the natural resources upon which people and wildlife depend.
Together, these interconnected programmes create resilient landscapes capable of supporting wildlife populations while delivering lasting environmental, social and conservation outcomes.
An Integrated Approach to Conservation
Long-term conservation depends on far more than protecting wildlife alone. It requires an integrated approach that recognises the relationship between healthy ecosystems, effective protection and thriving neighbouring communities.
Care for Wild’s conservation model combines environmental stewardship, ecological management, operational security, wildlife monitoring and meaningful community partnerships to protect both biodiversity and the natural resources upon which people and wildlife depend.
Together, these interconnected programmes create resilient landscapes capable of supporting wildlife populations while delivering lasting environmental, social and conservation outcomes.
Building a Mega Living Landscape
The Barberton Nature Reserve is the foundation of a much larger conservation vision.
Working alongside government and strategic conservation partners, Care for Wild is helping restore an interconnected conservation landscape of more than 200,000 hectares. By reconnecting fragmented protected areas and restoring ecological connectivity across an entire region, this initiative has the potential to become one of only three Mega Living Landscapes in South Africa.
At this scale, wildlife populations become more resilient, ecological processes function as they were intended and biodiversity can recover across an entire landscape rather than within isolated protected areas.
This is conservation measured not simply by the number of rhinos released, but by the health, resilience and permanence of the ecosystems that sustain them. Through long-term stewardship, strategic partnerships and science-led conservation management, Care for Wild is helping secure a future where wildlife, biodiversity and local communities can thrive together.
