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Monday 08:00 - 16:00 Tuesday 08:00 - 16:00 Wednesday 08:00 - 16:00 Thursday 08:00 - 16:00 Friday 08:00 - 16:00

Grootbos Foundation

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Grootbos Foundation

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The Grootbos Foundation changes lives, uplifts communities and conserves the Cape Floral Kingdom

Our objectives include:

*Conserving, rehabilitating and protecting the natural environment of the Western Cape region, particularly the flora and fauna on Grootbos Private Nature Reserve and the Walker Bay region.

*The provision of education relating to indigenous horticulture, agriculture, conservation, ecotourism, greening and life skills education.

*Training and skills development for disadvantaged persons with the purpose of enabling them to obtain employment or become self-employed.

*Using sports and sports facilities as a tool for social integration, promoting healthy lifestyles for youth, and increasing environmental awareness and life skills amongst communities.

*Research including ecological, educational, social and scientific research on topics related to our core programmes.

*Developing sustainable and innovative solutions to tackle the issue of food insecurity.

*Protecting and supporting vulnerable communities in meaningful ways during the Covid 19 pandemic.

04/11/2026

🕵Jumping bristletails (Family Meinertellidae) are tiny, wingless insects that don’t get the attention they deserve! Found hiding among rocks, under bark and in crevices, these little critters are easy to miss. With their long antennae, bristly bodies and three tail-like appendages, they look like miniature barbed creatures from another world. Their bodies are covered in scales, and when threatened, these little escape artists can leap surprisingly impressive distances for their size.

Many species are adapted to living on rocky surfaces, where they forage for algae, lichens and other organic matter. Small but perfectly suited to their environment, they are a fascinating reminder that some of the most interesting members of the invertebrate world are the ones we are likely to miss unless we actively seek them out.

02/11/2026

🏉This week, we have a rather special update from our sports programme.

Our under 16 Girl’s Rugby team took part in a rugby tournament in Genadendal. The team played three matches and impressed not only their coaches, but the tournament organisers too. Their team spirit, strategic thinking and ability to adapt on the field, as well as their respect, excellent teamwork and camaraderie made them stand out.

We are proud to announce that this has led to our team being invited to participate in another tournament next year!

What an incredible achievement for these young players!

Between school and the evening, the sports field offers young people a safe and positive place to spend time - surrounded by friends and supported by Grootbos Foundation sports coaches. But our sports programmes are about much more than sport. Through different sporting activities, our coaches help young people develop their full potential: becoming confident, disciplined, and dedicated teamplayers, while learning the value of teamwork, respect and perseverance.

30/10/2026

Wow. Just wow. We stepped into and were completely swept away by ‘Life After Fire’, the Gold medal-winning, Best display of botanical design by , created for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show () 2026.

You MUST go see this.

Inspired by the fynbos of the Cape and the fires that spark both life and regeneration, this display is a celebration of Fynbos, Flowers and Fire. And in person? It’s breathtaking. The colours, the textures, the way it all comes together... We could have stayed for hours.

We also had the privilege of meeting Kluge himself and chatting about the installation. Hearing the story behind it made it even more special. Over the past two weeks, the team has recreated the display right here in South Africa, for South Africans, and it’s on until Sun, Nov 8, 2026.

💚 All profits go to the , a non-profit based in Gansbaai in the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom, dedicated to conserving fynbos and supporting local communities.

Go see it before the blooms are gone! Tickets are available at webtickets.

29/10/2026

This spring has brought some incredible discoveries for our conservation team, but this little vygie is particularly exciting.

What we initially thought was Erepsia oxysepala turned out to be something much rarer: Erepsia babiloniae!

To understand just how special this find is, let’s rewind a little. First discovered in 1967 in the Babylonstoring Mountains and formally described in 1990, this species was not seen for decades. Then, five years ago, it was rediscovered in Tesselaarsdal and now, it has been spotted by our conservation team who has been routinely surveying the burnt landscape.

And there is another fascinating detail: unlike most vygies, Erepsia babiloniae is an annual. After flowering and setting seed, the plant completes its life cycle and dies. The population was found near a rocky outcrop in recently burnt fynbos, where fires had cleared competing vegetation and created an opportunity for these little plants to emerge. A specimen has now been submitted to the Bolus Herbarium, home to the original type specimen.

Most of the plants have already finished flowering and are seeding, so the only thing that is left now is to wait and see if we can find it again next year!

19/10/2026

🍽🪴For our students the time has finally come to gain some external practical workplace experience. They have spent the past months working diligently at gaining new skills and have been steadily improving and this month they finally get to put all that work to test.

The horticulture students spent aweek working at the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens where they were able to gain valuable work experience. From propagation of plants to landscaping and separating aloes, being immersed independently in a real workplace gives them an opportunity to experience a full working week. Not only is this an incredibly valuable and empowering experience for the students, it is also a huge honour that the Grootbos Foundation student group is trusted to work at Harold Porter.

At the same time, our hospitality skills students embarked on their external practical work experience in and around Gansbaai. Over the next two weeks, they will have the opportunity to put their skills into practice in a new environment, applying what they have learned so far while gaining valuable experience in the workplace. They will have to adapt to unfamiliar surroundings, work alongside new colleagues, and become part of a different team. We are excited to see how this hands-on experience will help them grow in confidence, develop their skills, and prepare for future opportunities in the hospitality industry.

This programme is supported by The Jobs Fund.

16/10/2026

🕵 Another week, another discovery. While the entomologists at Grootbos Foundation usually have a great eye for what insect they are dealing with, once in a while they do come across something that at first glance is a little more difficult to classify.

The little creatures they found this week were quite a mystery for a while. Is it an ant? A spider? Or maybe a type of bee? With some support from an expert they finally landed on carabid beetle larva – most likely Lophyra, a leopard tiger beetle!

The larvae are predatory, ambushing their prey from burrows in the ground using their well-developed mandibles, blocking their burrows with their large heads.

So we have yet another kind of 'leopard' in our area to add to our list aside from the Cape leopard and the Western leopard toad.

Can you spot the leopard tiger beetle in the picture? Look closely! It is a little master of camouflage!

14/10/2026

🎨 ⚽ 🪴We were excited to host the wonderful team from the UEFA Foundation for Children at Grootbos Foundation. They arrived with incredible energy, motivation and a lot of man and womanpower to give Masakhane Hub a colourful makeover.
During their week with Grootbos Foundation, the team also supported our holiday programme, creating meaningful connections with the children and embracing the cultural experiences along the way.

Masakhane Hub is a safe place for the community and especially the children to learn, connect and have fun. This makeover simply made the outside match the spirit that has always lived here. From painting and weeding to maintenance, coaching and transforming the outdoor spaces, the UEFA team threw themselves into every task with joy and incredible teamwork.

They left behind more than a freshly painted space. They left colour, warmth, possibility and their handprints on a place that means so much to the people of Masakhane. Sport brings people together, and the UEFA team showed that teamwork, dedication, hope and believing in one another reach far beyond the pitch.

Thank you, UEFA Foundation for Children, for showing up with open hearts, getting stuck in, and leaving your handprints in South Africa.

We are so grateful for the energy, connection and transformation they brought to Masakhane Hub!

12/10/2026

Grootbos Foundation’s relationship with the Eden Project in the UK is one of our longest-standing partnerships.Within the Mediterranean Biome, fynbos plants were originally established with the help of Sean Privett, and students from the Green Futures College, giving visitors from across the UK the opportunity to experience this extraordinary South African vegetation up close.

So, when the opportunity arose to bring the Grootbos Florilegium into this space and celebrate fynbos from yet another perspective, it was the perfect next step. Today, the beautiful Florilegium artwork is part of the visitor experience at Eden Project, featured on large outdoor signs throughout the Mediterranean Biome.

What an honour to see these artworks representing the incredible biodiversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom so far from home. We hope they inspire and delight Eden visitors as much as fynbos inspires us every day here in South Africa.

09/10/2026

🕵🪰Paramixogaster acantholepidis is a rare species of hoverfly with an interesting reproductive strategy. Expecting moms lay their eggs in the nests of Lepisiota capensis (the Small Black Sugar Ant) where the hatched larvae will live and grow.

This kind of strong association with ants is called myrmecophily which means “love of ants”. Adults visit flowers to drink nectar and eat pollen, making them important pollinators as they move pollen between flowers.

26/09/2026

🎤Join us for tomorrow’s talk with Leon Kluge.

At 12:00 Leon will take us on a journey from the very beginning to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London. Leon is the award-winning botanical designer behind Life After Fire, Best in Show and Gold Medal winner at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2026.

We are hosting a wonderful series of talks at Chelsea Flower in Stanford covering a fascinating range of topics - from fynbos, conservation and wildfires, to wildlife and the natural world.

@ NG Kerk, 31 Queen Victoria St, Stanford, 7210

* For Leon´s talk, book tickets online on WebTickets for R100.

Address

Grootbos Private Nature Reserve
Gansbaai
7220

Opening Hours

Monday	08:00 - 16:00
Tuesday	08:00 - 16:00
Wednesday	08:00 - 16:00
Thursday	08:00 - 16:00
Friday	08:00 - 16:00

Telephone

+27283848048

Website

http://www.grootbosfoundation.org/

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