Kromme Enviro-Trust

The Kromme Enviro-Trust, a Public Benefit Organisation was founded back in 1981 by a group of local volunteers and was concerned with environmental issues in the Greater St Francis area. The Enviro-Trust's role is just as vital today as it was back then. The existence of the organisation cannot be underestimated and this is due to the uniqueness of the Greater St Francis area.

Botanically, we fall within the Cape Floral Kingdom, and our unique vegetation in this area is referred to as St Francis Fynbos / Thicket Mosaic. The Cape Floral Kingdom into which we fall is the smallest of the Earth's six Cape Floral Kingdoms - home to some 9000 plant species, 70% of which grow no where else in the world.

St Francis is flanked by the Oysterbay Dune field, one of the finest examples in the world of a by-pass headland dune system. The headland dune system contains both Late Stone Age middens and Middle Stone Age artefacts. They are enormous archaeological treasure troves and go back some six thousand years ago, early stone age people lived, hunted, feasted and were buried in the sand dunes, and the remains are there to this day. There are wetlands and dune pools present, some temporarily, while others are more permanent or successfully advanced than others such as Langefonteinvlei, which is in pristine condition and considered to be one of the most important wetlands in the country, both culturally and historically. For this reason, we continue our work to protect this dune field in light of both its heritage and environmental value from further threats of mineral & sand prospecting and mining and to establish all or parts of the dune field as a nature reserve.

Our Mission Statement is to encourage and promote environmental awareness, to preserve and protect the environment and the amenities for future generations and to encourage the preservation of flora and fauna, sea life, shell-fish and bird life in the area and the appropriate use of Public Open Spaces, coastal areas and nature reserves. To these ends, the Kromme Enviro-Trust leads on or contributes towards many ongoing projects including, environmental monitoring where we scrutinise environmental impact assessments for proposed developments and engage with dialogue as to how developers can mitigate damaging environmental impacts. This would also apply to oil and gas off shore prospecting and mining practices and contribute to the damaging effects that may not necessarily be highlighted with an environmental impact assessment.

We are also responsible for the maintenance of the Two Harbours Trail which has suffered significantly over the last years from storm damage and erosion; overseeing the maintenance of the Community Garden in Harbour Road and our dedicated Wildlife Sanctuary, where we have a permanent enclosure for sick or injured bird and wildlife who can be treated and assessed on a short term basis and then released back into the wild or re-located to a dedicated carer for longer term rehabilitation. Finally, for our younger generation aged between 4-10 years we have the Eco-Kids programme where the children will meet throughout the year at different locations and learn about different themes, including birdlife, eco system of the rock pool, bees, wind and currents and of course, attend our Coastal Clean-Ups which we host twice a year as a means of raising awareness and encouraging all generations of the community to play a part in maintaining a clean and tidy coastal environment.