The Dassenberg Coastal Catchment Partnership (DCCP) is a landscape conservation initiative situated in a priority climate change corridor. The area covers 34,500 hectares ranging from CapeNature’s Riverlands Nature Reserve all the way to the coast. The area is prioritised because of its extremely high biodiversity value and is also critical for Cape Town’s water security as it falls within the Witzands Aquifer protection zone. The strategic objectives for this conservation partnership incorporate collaborative efforts including promoting climate change resilience and adaptation, conserving the cultural and natural heritage of the area, water security and unlocking socio-economic opportunities.
DCCP Map
Apart from CapeNature, other partners involved in the DCCP include the City of Cape Town, South African National Parks (SANParks), SANBI, the Western Cape Provincial Government, the Cape West Coast Biosphere, WWF South Africa, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Table Mountain Fund (TMF), Swartland Municipality, Mapula Trust, Eskom, West Coast District Municipality, Western Cape Department of Agriculture/LandCare Programme and Cape Action for People and the Environment (CAPE).
Stakeholder meeting in 2019 of the Dassenberg Coastal Catchment Partnership (Image: Martin Albertus)
The GEF-5 PA Project has assisted the DCCP initiative with the secondment of the DCCP Coordinator at CapeNature. The role of CapeNature is to coordinate, strategically guide and direct the implementation of the various initiatives in the DCCP. Every second month a DCCP Steering Committee meeting is planned and facilitated by CapeNature whereby partners come together, share information and collaborate to share resources where possible.
Many of these organisations have been working in the DCCP area well before the GEF-5 PA Project. However, the project has unlocked additional opportunities and enabled partners to do more. Subsequently showing that protecting the biodiversity of the area is possible with minimum resources.
Conservation Collaboration 2: Nature / Landscape
Below is a table of partnership initiatives in the DCCP which involve different spheres of government, NGO’s and private landowners. The DCCP Coordinator is holding these partnerships together by ensuring that meetings are held regularly, reporting is done and information is shared.
| Co-financing Partners | Project Description |
| WWF South Africa, Table Mountain Fund (TMF) and CapeNature | DCCP registered as a Small Grants Facility for 2017-2021. Project funding is available for landowners, communities, and NGOs to initiate small conservation orientated projects within the DCCP. |
| Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) Natural Resource Management and Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve (CWCBR) | A 3-year alien clearing project approved from 2018-2021. CWCBR is the implementing agency for various project sites across the DCCP. |
| City of Cape Town (CoCT) (Biodiversity Management Branch) and CapeNature | Land purchases by means of the Atlantis Conservation Land Banking Initiative; securing 17 properties to be consolidated into the Klein Dassenberg Conservation Area. |
| The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and CoCT | Establishment and implementation of the Greater Cape Town Water Fund, as a 1st South African pilot within the DCCP. Water conservancy through alien vegetation clearing. |
| Mapula Trust and CapeNature | Fencing Project, 16kms of fencing erected along R27 (Grotto Bay to Silverstroom), inclusive of Ganzekraal State Land to protect animals from private land under stewardship. |
| CapeNature | CapeNature Board and Extended Public Works Programme (EPWP) funding allocations for employment of staff in support of operations at Ganzekraal and Riverlands, such as alien vegetation clearing and construction of fire breaks. |