Entabeni Safari Conservancy - A Divers Hub of Sustainability par Excellence
- Rina Steyn
- Oct 2
- 2 min read
By RINA STEYN
ARE YOU passionate about sustainable tourism? Entabeni Safari Conservancy offers an immersive experience in eco-friendly travel.
I visited from 17 to 19 September 2025 with Mark van Eyssen, an assessor for Go Sustainable Tourism (GST) because Entabeni is in the process of joining GST. Our friendly and highly competent host, manager Charlaine Schoeman, guided us through every highlight over three unforgettable days.
The 22,000-hectare conservancy, aptly named "The Place of the Mountain," lies within the UNESCO-designated Waterberg Biosphere in Limpopo. Entabeni encompasses five distinct ecosystems:
Montane (Upper Escarpment): cool, high-altitude grasslands, rocky outcrops and forested ravines.
Bushveld (Lower Escarpment): warmer, open savanna dotted with acacia trees and mixed bushveld vegetation.
Wetlands: marshes, streams and reedbeds that attract hippos, myriad bird species and other water-dependent wildlife.
Grasslands: expansive plains that sustain grazers such as zebra, wildebeest and antelope, as well as their predators.
Sandveld (woodland and forest patches): sandy-soil areas with woodland vegetation, offering shelter and forage for browsers like giraffe and kudu.
These ecosystems are lovingly nurtured by Jan Lessing, head of conservation, and his dedicated team.
Cycad poaching has become a severe problem. Collectors worldwide pay criminal syndicates substantial sums to acquire these ancient plants. A peculiar belief claims that serving someone tea brewed from cycad leaves will erase memories of past wrongs.
According to Jan Lessing, embedding microchips in cycads failed to deter poachers. He is now testing microdot painting, exploring rhizome tagging similar to techniques used in rhino horn conservation, and plans to deploy drones to monitor the conservancy.
South Africa is also losing large numbers of pangolins to poaching. These animals breed very slowly - typically producing just one offspring per year.
Jan plans to implant tracking devices to help pangolins locate potential mates. He isn’t sure whether the procedure will be straightforward or complex, but urgent action is needed to bolster their population.
This initiative exemplifies his unwavering and heartfelt commitment to sustainable conservation.
Jan and his team removed 2,000 blue gum trees to conserve water and drastically reduced the number of silver cluster-leaf trees, which tend to dominate the veld. Indigenous plants such as kudu berry (Transvaal milk plum), monkey apple (white milkwood), and tortoise berry (sour plum) thrive under their care. Outeniqua yellowwood and Cape yellowwood - South Africa’s national tree - abound.
When the conservancy was established, red-billed oxpeckers were absent. Following their reintroduction, they can now be seen in great numbers.
Jan believes that a critical component of successful conservation is securing coverage by key personnel. Although training successors is essential, they must see conservation not as a mere job but embrace it wholeheartedly.
Peet Cilliers, CEO and founding visionary of Entabeni Safari Conservancy, holds that we are stewards of all we possess and must leave it in better condition than we found it.
Contact details:
Capetown reservations: +27 (0) 21 794 9050
Durban reservations: +27 (0) 31 941 5945
Johannesburg reservations: +27 (0) 10 446 8045
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