New land for Kariega Game Reserve

Mark Ferguson, son of former Manchester United football manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has purchased a section of richly biodiverse land in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and donated it to expand wildlife conservation.

The land will be incorporated into Kariega Game Reserve’s protected wilderness. The donation will ensure the conservation of approximately 25 kilometres of the Bushman's River tidal estuary, range expansion and additional carrying capacity for elephant, white and black rhino, as well the opportunity for the reintroduction of additional apex predators such as the endangered cheetah.

Securing this critical piece of land for conservation also creates the opportunity for the creation of connected wildlife corridors within the Eastern Cape over time.

“We are fortunate to be in a position to enable this important rewilding initiative. Having visited Kariega on a number of occasions we were aware of the significance of this piece of land,” Ferguson said.

“We hope it’s incorporation into the protected area will further enable it to truly flourish for the benefit of wildlife , community and the lucky guests who get to experience it.”

The Rushmere family, owners of Kariega Game Reserve comment: “This amazing contribution to conservation by the Ferguson family builds on our 30 year history and on-going vision to rewild, conserve and protect the beautiful and important Bushman’s River valley.

“We are humbled and very grateful. Conservation is a team sport and the Fergusons have made a valuable contribution to our team and conservation in the Eastern Cape at large.

“We must remember that we are simply custodians of our precious planet for a short time, and must play our part to conserve and protect our fragile ecosystems for future mankind.”

Kariega Game Reserve was born from the vision of Colin Rushmere who bought the first 600 hectares of farmland in 1989. He was in his mid-fifties and a lawyer at the time, although in his heart Colin was always an Eastern Cape farmer.

These seeds were planted in his early childhood as a result of a twist of fate caused by the Second World War when three year old Colin was sent to live with his aunt and uncle on a farm in the interior of the Eastern Cape.

It was Colin’s wife Twinks who was the conservationist and the most influential in shaping Colin’s vision towards conservation and eco-tourism. Gradually over three decades Colin worked, together with his son’s Mark and Graeme, to sculpture Kariega Game Reserve through the merging and rewilding of over 20 different farms to create the 11,500 hectare Big 5 protected wilderness it is today.

While reclaiming, restoring and protecting habitats is the first step to bringing back biodiversity.