In March we announced something big—an additional parcel added to our Geometric Tortoise preserve in South Africa. The new land effectively completes the reserve, meaning no other viable habitat remains in this area. The survival of this species depends heavily on continued fundraising for the intensive maintenance necessary to preserve this habitat and protect this land.

As fall begins in South Africa we have hit the ground running to protect tortoises on this new 217-acre property. This week we will begin to conduct surveys for Geometric Tortoises (Psammobates geometricus) in this new area in addition to the mark-recapture population monitoring that will continue throughout the preserve.

The preserve staff will soon be clearing invasive acacia plants to maintain the natural fynbos habitat. In previous posts we have detailed what an intensive process this is and how necessary it is to sustain a healthy population of these Critically Endangered tortoises.

All of this would not be possible without the contributions from individual public donors, and a handful of TC board members came together with the Rainforest Trust to cover a significant portion of the purchase price. We have raised over half of what we need, but an additional support of $400,000 is needed by the end of the year to secure and maintain this essential piece of land for Geometric Tortoise Conservation.

Please consider making a donation on World Turtle Day® to support this project.

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