Conservation and commerce converged when Mkambathi Nature Reserve was officially declared the Eastern Cape’s first Ramsar Wetland of International Importance, and the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) raised R2.2 million at its annual game auction moments later. Announcing the listing, MEC for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism Nonkqubela Pieters told stakeholders the new status “puts 7 720 hectares of rare Pondoland grasslands, waterfalls and scarp forest on the world map and brings expert support, eco-tourism and real jobs to our communities.” The Ramsar designation, South Africa’s 31st, follows years of joint work by ECPTA, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment and the Mkambati Land Trust, which the MEC hailed as proof that “when we protect nature, people benefit too.”
ECPTA board chair Nomakwezi Mzilikazi called the listing “the beginning of a new chapter” and confirmed that a larger community celebration will be held inside the reserve during World Wetlands Week in February 2026. The focus then shifted to the auction floor, where more than 200 animals went under the hammer. Two Cape buffalo fetched the day’s highest price of R110,000 each, helping to push total takings to R2.2 million. ECPTA CEO Vuyani Dayimani noted that 2.5 per cent of the proceeds go straight to the Likhayalethu Trust bursary fund, which last year covered tuition and field equipment for students from villages co-managing reserves with ECPTA.
