The Inspiring !Khwa ttu: Preserving San Culture and Biodiversity
About an hour from Cape Town, South Africa, lies the award-winning San cultural heritage centre, !Khwa ttu. Situated on former farmland, this centre focuses on preserving San culture and uplifting the San community in southern Africa.
Photos by: Kayleigh Murray
Blue-and-red babiana (Babiana rubrocyanea – endangered)
The Inspiring !Khwa ttu: Preserving San Culture and Biodiversity
About an hour from Cape Town, South Africa, lies the award-winning San cultural heritage centre, !Khwa ttu. Situated on former farmland, this centre focuses on preserving San culture and uplifting the San community in Southern Africa. Over the past 28 years, !Khwa ttu has evolved into a bustling cultural hub, nature reserve and restaurant that supports the education and training of descendants of the San people, many of whom are now part of the permanent staff. The organisation demonstrates how cultural preservation not only uplifts communities but can also be an effective form of biodiversity conservation. Efforts to restore the land for cultural purposes have revived local biodiversity, creating a flourishing ecosystem.
!Khwa ttu team busy in one of the mother gardens producing material for reintroduction
Pink kalkoentjie (Gladiolus meliusculus – near threatened)
Taking a drive through blossoming Hopefield Sand Fynbos at !Khwa ttu.
Cape jewels (Nemesia strumosa – near threatened)
Origins of !Khwa ttu
!Khwa ttu was established in 1996 through a partnership between the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) and Swiss philanthropist Irene Staehelin. San is a broad term for many different ethnic groups of indigenous Southern Africans who lived in hunter-gatherer societies. They had a strong dependence on biodiversity and knowledge of plant and animal species. The San people have endured genocide, land expropriation and racial discrimination, and as a result have fewer opportunities within formal education and employment systems, leading to further marginalisation. Recognising the importance of land in gaining economic opportunities, Staehelin bought a piece of land on which San people could maintain their way of life and access the economic opportunity of Cape Town’s tourism industry. !Khwa ttu provides a perfect opportunity for visitors to engage with the San’s rich history, art, practices and traditional knowledge.
“The ‘!’ in !Khwa ttu denotes one of the main consonants in |Xam – one of the many extinct San languages. It is pronounced with a gentle click of the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth.”
Rehabilitating the Land and Community
Initially, !Khwa ttu focused on rehabilitating the buildings on the farm. Old fences and some invasive alien vegetation were cleared from the veld, and game and useful indigenous plants were reintroduced with the goal of sustaining traditional hunting and gathering. The centre and accommodations were opened, and San people received training in land management, hospitality and tours in the nature reserve that they developed. Many of the original people who were part of the rebuilding of !Khwa ttu and the initial training programmes are still permanently employed there.
Proteaceae seeds.
The restoration plan
The team embarked on a comprehensive restoration project with the help of restoration ecologist Johann von Biljon of Green Intaba. Years of agricultural use had compacted the soil and depleted the indigenous seed bank. Alien invasive plants had a firm grip on the land, and a previous fire through an infested area on the farm had left a burn scar. The veld was also overgrazed by game.
Firstly, the team erected a game fence to protect the granite koppie (or hill) which produces the greatest yield of useful plants. The restoration plan for !Khwa ttu included trial plots for various intervention strategies addressing soil compaction, soil fertility and the reintroduction of plants. Soil fertility was enhanced by applying a “soil milkshake” – a solution made using healthy soil from neighbouring areas or from areas with specific species. Seeds were exposed to different germination treatments, including the application of microbes, water smoke, fire and ash before reintroduction.
!Khwa ttu team busy in one of the mother gardens producing material for reintroduction.
Living Off the Land: The COVID-19 Challenge
A pivotal moment for !Khwa ttu came during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. With restrictions in place and many of the residents unable to leave the farm, questions arose: Could they truly live off the land? This period prompted a renewed focus on the land’s productive potential and sustainability, leading to the launch of the Food of Our Ancestors project funded by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism. This project shifted the focus of !Khwa ttu’s tours, guest experiences and food towards an approach focused on the landscape and the indigenous biota traditionally used by San people. However, they soon realised that they could not harvest from this landscape sustainably and noticed that the veld was in need of rehabilitation.
Soil fertility was enhanced by applying a ‘soil milkshake’.
What to reintroduce?
To build a list of target species for seed collection, propagation and reintroduction, the team began documenting the species in the veld. They then conducted a gap analysis to determine which plants were missing from the landscape by comparison with neighbouring intact Swartland Granite Renosterveld and Hopefield Sand Fynbos. Archaeoecologist Elzanne Singels was consulted to enhance this species list with those that were historically used for food and medicine by the San in the area. The long resulting list was whittled down from “What is missing?” to “What is palatable to animals and people?” and, from there, “What is easy to grow?”
Reintroductions from seed are preferable, but some species need to be propagated under careful conditions. Some edible, medicinal and tea species readily germinated from seed in the trial plots. These included wild rosemary (Eriocephalus africanus), wild sage (Salvia africana), honey flower (Melianthus major), bietou (Osteospermum moniliferum), and krulletjie (Ferraria crispa). Others were even difficult to propagate by staff in the small restoration nursery – a big challenge that !Khwa ttu and conservation organisations alike face today! Early in the project, mother stock gardens were established for each vegetation type to act as seed reservoirs for restoration propagation material, and qualified nurseries were contracted to grow plants for reintroduction (Green Intaba and Alex Lansdowne).
Seed Collection
Taking a walk through Blossoming Hopefield Sand Fynbos at
!Khwa ttu.
The results so far
The rehabilitation work planned is all completed and monitored by San people employed at !Khwa ttu. Four San individuals are responsible for much of the on-the-ground work, bringing with them traditional knowledge of the land and its flora. Their approach to the restoration can be summed up in a simple yet profound statement they often make: “Just watch nature do what it does.” This patient, observation approach has been key to the success of the project. Through this work, the team has used tools like iNaturalist for species identification while staying true to their ancestral wisdom.
The results of these efforts have been encouraging. Soil health, particularly in the Renosterveld, has shown signs of improvement, and species diversity is increasing. Several subpopulations of endangered local endemics – such as the white disa orchid (Disa draconis), blue-and-red winecup (Babiana rubrocyanea) and red lion’s face (Nemesia strumosa) – have reemerged in areas of !Khwa ttu cleared of alien vegetation. Approximately 25% of the food used in the centre’s kitchen now comes directly from the land, and the team can sustainably feed about 10 people per day from the restored areas.
White disa (Disa draconis – endangered)
Proteaceae seed.
Strandveld trumpet bobbejaantjie (Babiana tubiflora – least concern)
A Model of Cultural and Ecological Restoration
!Khwa ttu exemplifies how cultural preservation and ecological restoration can go hand in hand. As the San people restore the land, they are also reclaiming their heritage. Initiatives like “Food of Our Ancestors” and ongoing restoration projects showcase how cultural and environmental sustainability are interconnected. By reviving their traditional practices and fostering biodiversity, the San community is strengthening its ties to the land, culture, and wider community. !Khwa ttu stands as a beacon of hope, offering a practical example of how to conduct ecological restoration in harmony with cultural preservation. !Khwa ttu exemplifies how cultural preservation and ecological restoration can go hand in hand. As the San people restore the land, they are also reclaiming their heritage. Initiatives like Food of Our Ancestors and ongoing restoration projects showcase how cultural and environmental sustainability are interconnected. By reviving their traditional practices and fostering biodiversity, the San community is strengthening its ties to the land, culture, and wider community. !Khwa ttu stands as a beacon of hope, offering a practical example of how to conduct ecological restoration in harmony with cultural preservation.
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