An NGO’s Contribution to Mountain
Conservation in South Africa
A. Schoon
M. Shroyer
F. Hunziker
Abstract—The Mountain Club of South Africa (MCSA) is a nongovernment organization (NGO) with objectives relating to the
enjoyment and conservation of local mountain areas. It is a
national federal body comprising 13 autonomous sections distributed throughout South Africa, with a national central committee
coordinating the Club’s national operation. Key activities include
mountaineering and rock climbing, search and rescue, securing
access to mountains, conservation, and outreach. The MCSA has
good linkages with national bodies such as the International
Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) Access and Conservation and Mountain Protection Commissions. The MCSA’s
involvement in conservation of the mountain environment includes
the following initiatives:
• Watchdog function in terms of development proposals and
land-use changes in mountain areas in South Africa.
• Environmental Management Plans for Club properties to protect the wilderness qualities of properties and to educate
members regarding environmentally friendly behavior in
mountains.
• Environmental Management Systems (according to ISO 14001
EMS guidelines) for sport climbing and mountaineering in the
Cape Peninsula National Park, and ongoing conservation
efforts to clear invasive alien vegetation and protea atlassing.
• Public participation regarding local, regional, and national
environmental issues potentially affecting mountains and related communities.
The MCSA strongly supports initiatives to preserve mountain
wilderness areas.
environment, decided to vest their activities with some
degree of formality, and formed the Mountain Club of South
Africa (MCSA). This occurred in 1891, and it is interesting
to note that the formation of the MCSA took place at much
the same time as other European mountaineering clubs, as
the same needs were being experienced elsewhere. The
MCSA is in fact one of the oldest mountaineering clubs in the
world.
Today the MCSA’s membership has grown to over 4,000
members in 13 autonomous sections countrywide, with the
largest concentration of members in the Western Cape. The
Club operates as a federal body with a central organization
looking after its national and international interests. Due to
its modest size, the Club makes use of only very limited
professional help and relies largely on voluntary input from
its members for its operation.
A fine distinction is drawn insofar as the MCSA is a
“mountain club” rather than purely a “mountaineering club.”
This broadens the perspective, allowing the Club to participate in most things to do with mountains. While mountaineering and climbing are, and always have been, the Club’s
core interests, it also participates in many other mountainrelated activities.
The objective of this paper is to briefly summarize the
MCSA’s range of activities, to describe its involvement in
activities concerning conservation of the mountain environments in South Africa in greater detail, and to highlight
some typical issues that are relevant to them.
International Involvement _________
Introduction ____________________
The Western Cape Province of South Africa is blessed with
great natural beauty. The rugged Cape Fold Mountains are
attractive and impressive by any standards. It is perhaps
not surprising, therefore, that shortly before the turn of the
th
20 century, some of the region’s like-minded inhabitants,
who displayed a natural desire to explore this mountain
A. Schoon is the National President of the Mountain Club of South Africa,
97 Hatfield Street, Cape Town, South Africa 8001, phone: 27-21-465 3412,
FAX: 27-21-461 8456, E-mail: andre@liebstan.co.za. M. Shroyer is MCSA
Convenor of the National Environment Subcommittee, E-mail:
shroyer@iafrica.com. F. Hunziker is the MCSA National Honorary Secretary,
E-mail: hunziker@mweb.co.za
In: Watson, Alan; Sproull, Janet, comps. 2003. Science and stewardship to
protect and sustain wilderness values: Seventh World Wilderness Congress
symposium; 2001 November 2–8; Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Proc. RMRSP-27. Ogden, UT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky
Mountain Research Station.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-27. 2003
Like many other sporting bodies, the MCSA experienced
a degree of isolation during the apartheid era, manifested in
the difficulties experienced when climbing overseas, particularly in the greater ranges such as the Himalaya and
Karakoram. There was also very limited contact with other
mountaineering federations, and the MCSA “missed out” on
very significant steps in the development of mountaineering
and climbing that occurred at the time.
That changed quite dramatically in the early 1990s when
the Royal Dutch Alpine Club and the British Mountaineering Council put the MCSA forward for membership in the
World Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA)
and the MCSA was elected to that body.
With its UIAA membership and the changes that took
place in South Africa’s political fortunes, the international
mountaineering community has gone out of its way to welcome the MCSA back into its ranks. In terms of mountaineering and climbing, this has been of immense benefit to the
MCSA due to the opportunities that have been made
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An NGO’s Contribution to Mountain Conservation in South Africa
available to its members. But a further benefit, which was
perhaps not at first evident, has been the benefit derived in
terms of the contact, information, and advice available
through working with the UIAA’s Commissions, which address specialized fields such as expeditions, training, medical matters, youth, and safety, among others. The MCSA is
presently one of only two mountaineering federations on the
African Continent that are members of the UIAA.
Search and Rescue
Activities of the MCSA ___________
Training and Development
To give an overview of the full spectrum of activities in
which the MCSA is involved, all its key activities are described here. These are expanded only where relevant to the
objective of this paper.
The MCSA recognizes the importance of safety in mountaineering and climbing and has over the years provided
training in mountain leadership and in mountaineering and
climbing skills, both for its own members and for nonmembers. More recently it has taken the initiative in forming the
South African Mountaineering Development and Training
Trust (MDT), of which it is the chief patron, to formulate and
apply training standards. The MDT is now recognized both by
the Government and by the tourism industry as the relevant
authority in this field. MDT standards are fully documented
and are in the process of being incorporated into the standards set by the Government’s qualification authority.
The MCSA subscribes to the UIAA ethic contained in its
“International Year of the Mountains 2002 Summit Charter” (UIAA Summit Charter 2002) that everyone should be
free to enjoy the natural mountain environment and that
mountaineering and climbing contribute to the human spirit
and to human endeavor, as freedom sports with human and
social values. Therefore, it is aware of the importance of
providing opportunity to previously disadvantaged communities to use and enjoy South Africa’s mountain environment
in a safe and responsible manner. In order to introduce
members of these communities to the mountain environment and to convey a message to them regarding the safety
and responsibility aspects relating to going into the mountains, as well as the importance of protecting mountains, the
larger MCSA sections operate outreach programs.
Mountaineering and Climbing
The MCSA has a proud record of mountaineering achievements from expeditions made to mountain ranges outside
South Africa’s borders. These include many important ascents of mountains in ranges on the African, North and
South American, and Asian Continents and elsewhere.
Mountain Club of South Africa members have also extensively explored the mountains of the many ranges inside
South Africa, where Club members have made most first
ascents of the mountains considered to be of major importance. Individual MCSA sections organize frequent Club
meets that vary in nature and difficulty from simple hikes to
scrambling and kloofing (canyoning). The MCSA’s KwaZuluNatal Section has organized an annual July (winter) Camp
at various locations in the Drakensberg for the past 80 years.
Other MCSA national meets also provide opportunities for
members from sections around the country to climb and hike
together. Besides all these organized meets, members organize many more of their own private excursions.
South Africa offers some of the best rock-climbing opportunities to be found anywhere in the world, and both traditional and sport climbing are major activities of MCSA
sections. In traditional rock climbing (generally on longer
multipitch routes), the leader and other members of the
climbing party are protected by clipping the climbing rope
into temporary protection (in the form of slings, chocks, and
camming devices called “friends”) placed over rock projections and in suitable cracks as the climbers proceed, with all
of this equipment being removed when no longer required.
In sport climbing, the routes are generally shorter and
steeper, and protection is afforded by clipping the climbing
rope into permanent preplaced anchors drilled into the rock.
Unique access and environmental issues relating to sport
climbing are addressed elsewhere in this paper.
Whereas mountaineering and climbing are essentially
noncompetitive recreational activities, one of the more recent responsibilities that has evolved from the MCSA’s
membership of the UIAA is the promotion of competition
climbing in South Africa. Climbing competitions are held on
artificial (often indoor) climbing walls, and results are judged
according to the difficulty of the preset routes and the
competitors’ achievements climbing them. A national ranking is established, enabling South African climbers to compete in international competitions.
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In conjunction with other government bodies (such as the
police or air force) and the statutory emergency services, the
MCSA has over many years offered a highly effective voluntary mountain search and rescue service to provide assistance to hikers and climbers who get lost or suffer accidents
in the mountains.
Access and Conservation
Probably the single most critical element determining the
well-being of our Club’s mountaineering and climbing activities in South Africa is the question of maintaining access to
the mountains and to other climbing areas (such as river and
roadside crags or sea cliffs). Both at sectional and national
levels, enormous effort is put into ensuring that existing
MCSA access arrangements are maintained and, where
necessary, new ones are negotiated. The MCSA has over the
years both negotiated access servitudes with landowners
and purchased key properties to provide a guarantee of
access in perpetuity, particularly in important mountain
areas.
Mountaineering federations around the world report similar experiences in this regard, continually having to monitor
and, where necessary, take action to preserve their members’ access to mountains and climbing crags. Access is
inextricably linked to conservation of the mountain environment, and the MCSA clearly recognizes this when dealing
with access issues. In an effort to assist its member federations, through the dissemination of information on access
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Schoon, Shroyer, and Hunziker
and conservation issues, the UIAA through its Access and
Conservation Commission is compiling information from
around the world on the current situation regarding access
to mountains and climbing crags. This includes the legal
status pertaining to access (and liability of the landowner)
and particular access difficulties that exist, as well as the
principal conservation issues affecting access. The MCSA
has already contributed information to the Commission in
the form of a State of the Nation Report (Shroyer 2001a)
setting out the status in South Africa in this connection.
In order to retain the wilderness character of the mountain properties that it has purchased, the Club has adopted
a policy restricting the construction of permanent shelters
(mountain huts), encouraging its members to camp instead,
making use of tents where necessary. Both on those few
properties where shelters have been constructed and on
properties without any such “improvements,” the MCSA
strives to apply the same environmental principles that it
would expect others to apply on similar land elsewhere.
In the case of the Club’s largest section in Cape Town, a
detailed land management plan for the Club’s properties is
in the process of being drafted and implemented, and it is
intended that the same provision will ultimately be applied
to all the Club’s properties.
The MCSA endeavors to become involved as an interested
and affected party for any development proposal in mountain areas. Where practically feasible in terms of its resources, it adopts a monitoring role on all forms of proposed
development that may pose a threat to the mountain environment, from proposed projects like the Witterivier and
Visgat Dams in the Western Cape, to the Mnweni cableway
in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg, to major development
plans in the Magaliesberg. In the case of the Table Mountain
cableway upgrade, the MCSA played a proactive role in the
public participation process.
In terms of one of its prime objectives, the Club strives to
initiate and support actions toward preserving and protecting the natural beauty and wilderness character of the
mountains and toward promoting their effective conservation management. The MCSA’s specific goals in this regard
are to:
•
•
•
•
Prevent pollution of mountain environments.
Maintain biodiversity of mountain ecosystems.
Promote the sustainable use of resources.
Support integrated environmental management procedures for development proposals or changes in land use
in mountain environments (this includes environmental impact assessments and public participation).
• Motivate its own members and the public to conduct all
activities in the mountains in an environmentally responsible way.
• Promote open communication on environmental issues
within the MCSA and, where appropriate, between the
MCSA and other parties.
The MCSA has adopted and strives to apply the UIAA’s
Environmental Guidelines (2002) in its various activities
and actions. Club members serve as Corresponding Members
on the Mountain Protection and Access and Conservation
Commissions of the UIAA.
The MCSA places a high importance on the conservation
of South Africa’s mountain heritage. The Club’s Cape Town
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Section initiated an active program for the removal of
invasive alien plant species in 1945 and has ever since
steadfastly continued its work, more recently joined by other
younger sections in this conservation effort. Club members
frequenting remote mountain areas have contributed significant effort to the recent Protea Atlassing Project in the
country.
Potential for Change in the
Mountain Environment ________
Increase in Number of Users
The number of people going into the mountains in South
Africa is likely to rise dramatically. Although our mountains
are presently not heavily used, they will become more so. An
extreme example is the use of the Western Table on Table
Mountain where tourist traffic has increased in a very short
space of time. We should learn from other nations’ experience how to manage these problems, although some of them
are certainly unique to our situation.
One factor that may be unique to our situation is the likely
transition in a large section of our country’s population over
a period of time from a survival lifestyle to one where people
are relatively better off and will have the inclination and
means to participate more in recreational activities.
The MCSA believes that education will be an important
consideration in dealing with this increased interest. It is
important that people appreciate and understand the mountain environment, learning to conserve it, as well as how to
use it and enjoy it responsibly and safely. These are fundamental issues that the MCSA is already trying to address
through its outreach programs and will hopefully, in the
future, be able to address through the proposed development
side of the MDT.
Invasive Alien Plants
The effects of the invasion of alien plant species have had
a significant impact on native vegetation on some of South
Africa’s mountains. Members of our Club possibly appreciate more than others the extent of this problem, because
they see first hand how these alien infestations are taking
hold in some of our remotest areas. While the MCSA and a
few other concerned parties have for many years operated
plant conservation programs, actively participating in the
eradication of alien plants in mountain environments, it is
gratifying that there is now national recognition of the
threat posed by alien vegetation in our water catchment
areas, and very encouraging that a concerted effort is being
made to commence redressing this problem.
With the limited resources that are available, it is going
to take a huge effort to make this project a success. It is
important that available energies are used to best effect,
and we should ensure that expert knowledge available in
bodies like the MCSA is put to best use. Too often we have
seen a lot of time, effort, and money put into clearing
projects, which have been wasted through incorrect techniques being applied.
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Developmental Impacts
Various forms of development have made a significant
impact on the mountain environment. For example, there is
a proliferation of communication structures in our mountains. In themselves, these structures may have more of an
aesthetic impact than anything else, but in cases where
roads have been constructed to give access to the sites to
facilitate building and maintaining the structures, there has
often been severe environmental degradation. An example
where this has happened is on Ben Heatlie, near Worcester,
where an access road more than 20 km (12.4 miles) long has
been built in extremely fragile terrain. The MCSA is running
a project to compile information on existing communication
sites in sensitive mountain environments to try to apply
pressure to limit further degradation. Fortunately, new
environmental legislation is now in place to ensure that new
structures of this nature may be erected and other forms of
development undertaken only after a proper environmental
impact assessment has been done. But, it is still necessary
to keep one’s eyes open to see that the legislation is enforced.
Impacts of Users
An emotive issue relating to sport climbing (a comparatively recent development in rock climbing that has increased immensely in popularity throughout the world over
a very short time) is the fact that sport climbing relies on the
placement of fixed protection on the climbs in the form of
anchor bolts drilled and glued into the rock. However, this is
in fact a relatively insignificant impact in relation to the
impact of access. Because most sport climbing areas are
quite concentrated, with many climbing routes in a small
area, the impact on the vegetation caused by the climbers
moving between the routes and reaching the climbing area
can be far more serious.
In the 1990s, European climbing federations experienced
major problems with access to some of their climbing areas
(specifically sport climbing areas) being completely closed
down due to public pressure exerted on environmental
grounds, partly for the reasons already set out here, but also
due to possible disturbance of nesting birds, such as peregrine falcons. Largely from concerted efforts made by the
German Alpine Club (DAV) and the Swiss Alpine Club
(CAS), many of these constraints have now been removed.
Dialogue was initiated by these federations involving all
parties concerned so that the climbers’ aspirations and
needs and the environmental groups’ concerns could all be
heard and understood, and so that management plans appropriate for each particular area could be worked out and
agreed upon.
This successful process resulted in an informative joint
UIAA/World Conservation Union (IUCN) seminar held in
Barcelona in 1998, following which valuable guidelines
entitled “Access and Conservation Strategies for Climbing
Areas” were published by the UIAA’s Access and Conservation Working Group (UIAA/IUCN 2001).
Building on this experience and the information flowing
from it, the sport-climbing community, supported by the
MCSA, developed a management plan for sport climbing in
the Cape Peninsula National Park (CPNP) that has now
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been accepted by South African National Parks and is being
implemented via a Sport Climbing Working Group. It has
been a very successful initiative and one that sets new
standards for recreation management in protected areas.
The MCSA is in the process of drafting proposals for a
similar management plan for mountaineering in the Cape
Peninsula National Park.
Challenges Regarding Wilderness
Management ___________________
There are very few wilderness areas set aside in South
Africa, particularly when we consider mountainous wilderness areas. The mountain wilderness areas that we do have
and that are afforded an enhanced conservation status must
be recognized as being extremely precious, and we should all
do our utmost to ensure that these areas are preserved in a
pristine condition for future generations.
There are other mountain areas that deserve recognition
as wilderness areas too but that are not afforded any special
conservation status. Such areas, together with their present
form of ownership and conservation status, need to be
defined and means sought to afford them with an enhanced
conservation status before the window of opportunity is lost.
To promote a better understanding of the present conservation status of mountains in South Africa, the MCSA,
together with the World Wide Fund for Nature—South
Africa (WWF-SA), sponsored a research project conducted
by Shroyer (2001b) entitled “Establishing the Status of
Mountain Conservation in South Africa.” The purpose of the
research was:
• To provide an overview of the major mountain ranges in
South Africa and their conservation status.
• To provide information about mountain communities
living in them.
• To provide a brief analysis of the policies, legislation,
and other “social contracts” affecting their conservation
status.
• To highlight some of the key threats to mountain wilderness in South Africa.
Opportunities ___________________
The year 2002 offers South Africa a great opportunity to
focus its peoples’ attention on mountains through the United
Nation’s International Year of the Mountains (IYM 2002).
The MCSA recognized this opportunity and lobbied the
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mr. Valli
Moosa, and his department at Central Government to set up
a national IYM 2002 Committee to support and coordinate
the country’s efforts to make this event a big success, an
action that the Government has already set in motion.
The MCSA will be liaising closely with this IYM 2002
Committee to promote a number of important national
events that will take place during 2002. These will include
the declaration of Mountain Protection Days over the weekend of September 14–15, when it is hoped that countrywide
mountain conservation projects will be publicized nationally in the printed media and on television, as well as a
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Schoon, Shroyer, and Hunziker
conference focusing on the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg
Mountains, with the specific objective of contributing to the
Protected Area and Parks Conference to be held in Durban
in 2003. The Drakensberg conference, which will be supported by the UIAA as one of its international IYM 2002
projects, has exciting potential in view of the recent developments in the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg—the declaration
of the Drakensberg as a World Heritage Site and the formation of the Maluti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation
Area.
In addition to the contribution that it will make on these
projects, the MCSA is planning various other national events
to celebrate IYM 2002, the most important of which will be:
• The publication of a book on the history of mountaineering in South Africa.
• Application made to the Post Office for a commemorative stamp issue in South Africa focusing specifically on
mountains.
• The production of an educational video on the mountains of South Africa, emphasizing their importance
and the need to conserve them,
• Through partnerships with organizations like Working
for Water and Ukuvuka Firestop, undertaking special
IYM 2002 projects (such as the high altitude clearing of
alien vegetation) to publicize work done toward conserving mountains.
• The expansion of the Banff Festival of Mountain Films
to a major national event in South Africa.
Conclusions ____________________
The MCSA, although a relatively small mountaineering
federation, endeavors to play a role in the conservation of the
mountains of South Africa, and this paper outlines the
actions it is taking in regard to some of the issues involved.
Membership of the UIAA, the World Mountaineering
and Climbing Federation, has provided useful guidance in
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An NGO’s Contribution to Mountain Conservation in South Africa
helping the MCSA to resolve some of the conservation issues
it has faced. Many of the problems in South Africa are not
unique and have been thought about and often successfully
addressed by our international friends. We should draw on
this experience where appropriate and use the support that
they are willing to give us.
Similarly, organizations like the MCSA should strengthen
partnerships with other NGOs to achieve common goals
relating to mountain conservation.
More work is needed, particularly with regard to defining
and taking action where mountain areas should be recognized as wilderness areas and afforded enhanced conservation status. The International Year of the Mountains 2002
affords South Africa a great opportunity to highlight the
importance of South Africa’s mountains and the need to
conserve them.
References _____________________
Shroyer, Maretha. 2001a. Mountain Club South Africa—a state of
the Nations report to the UIAA Access and Environment Commission, Mountains: the access and conservation situation in
South Africa. Unpublished paper on file at: MCSA Library, Cape
Town. [Online]. Available: http://www.mcsa.org.za (2002 August).
Shroyer, Maretha. 2001b. Establishing the status of mountain
conservation in South Africa—a research report for World Wide
Fund for Nature—South Africa and the Mountain Club of South
Africa. Project no: ZA 1232.
UIAA Environmental Guidelines. 2002. The International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation. [Online]. Available: http://
www.uiaa.ch/iym/
UIAA Summit Charter. 2002. Year of the mountains 2002: proposals for collaboration in relation to the International Year of
Mountains 2002. Union Internationale des Associations
d’alpinisme/The International Mountaineering and Climbing
Federation. [Online]. Available: http://www.uiaa.ch/iym/
UIAA/IUCN. 2001. Access and conservation strategies for climbing
areas. [Online]. Available: http://www.uiaa.ch/commissions/
other.asp?idobject=85
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