Farming with Nature workshop series

What is it?

The Cape Leopard Trust, in partnership with experts from the Herding Academy and CapeNature, will soon host a series of workshops exploring holistic land management and sustainable farming in harmony with predators. The three full day workshops will aim to promote predator conflict mitigation and farm management methods that protect nature, benefit farmers and enhance food security.

Why such a workshop series?

The leopard is the last large predator and last of the Big 5 to still roam free in the Western Cape. Although leopards prefer to consume natural prey, on occasion they will opportunistically hunt livestock, causing significant economic damage. Farming alongside predators is one of many challenges faced by farmers, together with drought and extreme weather. The Farming with Nature workshop series encourages commercial farmers who want to “farm with nature”, that it is not only possible, but advantageous to improve resilience and enhance productivity.

The holistic management techniques presented in the workshops will not only benefit individual farmers but also the Western Cape’s globally relevant fauna and flora. As the apex predator in one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, the leopard is an important control mechanism in ecosystem health. By changing the way farmers interact with the natural environment, this course hopes to reduce human-wildlife conflict incidents, thereby conserving leopards and ecosystems. Additionally, by farming for biodiversity and considering the farm as part of the whole ecological system, the impacts of droughts may be mitigated and the long-term sustainability of the farming system enhanced.

The details:

All three sessions will be run between August and October 2022 at two Western Cape locations – Montagu Country Hotel and Langgewens Research Farm between Malmesbury and Mooreesburg. Participants are encouraged to attend the entire workshop series to maximise learning but it is also possible to attend individual days. Workshop attendance can be booked through the Cape Leopard Trust online shop (capeleopard.org.za/shop/events) at R200 per full day workshop session (or R550 for all 3 days). Workshop days run from 9 am to 4 pm and include lunch.

Workshop 1: Holistic Drought Management

Presented in partnership with the Herding Academy, this session will explore methods to improve land productivity during droughts, including the use of grazing plans.

2 August, Montagu Country Hotel
4 August, Langgewens Experimental Farm

Workshop 2: Holistic Predation Management

Presented in partnership with CapeNature, topics will include predator behavioural ecology, conflict mitigation methods and carcass ID.

7 September, Montagu Country Hotel
21 September, Langgewens Experimental Farm

Workshop 3: Applied Holistic Agro-ecological Management

The session will explore agricultural ecology principles and support farmers to practically apply these principles to their individual farming set up.