DALTON PRIVATE RESERVE

The Dalton Private Reserve is located in the Estcourt district of the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, upstream of the Wagendrift Dam. The property is 2472 hectares in extent and consists of undulating grasslands, plateaus, ravines and steep wooded slopes. Approximately 14kms of the Bushman’s River, upstream of the Wagondrift dam forms the northern boundary with approximately 8kms of the Heatherspruit River, a tributary of the Bushman’s, centrally bisecting the property. The property has been identified as being essential for the conservation of key species in the province. Specifically, the property has one of the larger populations of the Endangered Oribi antelope (Ourebia ourebi) on private land. This reserve will further protect other red data and endemic species such as Southern Ground Hornbill, White Rhino, Natal Midlands Dwarf Chameleon, Denhams’ Bustard, Barrow’s (Whitebellied) Korhaan, Cape Griffin, Bald Ibis and Calpurnia woodii. Further reintroductions of several key species have further added to the conservation value of this property .

The property is located upstream of the Wagendrift Dam and it contains a network of wetlands which drain into the Bushman’s River supplying this dam. These wetlands and their sustained management contribute significantly to the provision of sustained water yields of high quality to maintain flow of this perennial river, which supports a range of major residential, agricultural and industrial downstream uses, as well as local communities which depend on this river for their domestic water supplies.

The Dalton Private Reserve will furthermore, due to its strategic position and enhanced ecosystem management, acts as a flagship for improved land management in the area as it promotes more appropriate land use practices amongst it’s neighbours, thereby adding to the improvement of biodiversity in the area. This has been directly seen in the current management activities on the property, where hundred’s of hectares of alien plants (mainly wattle) have been removed from the riparian areas, using local community members for this purpose, and allowing the development of secondary industries from the products of this activity.