History: The Conservancy was established in 2004 as part of Cape Nature’s Stewardship Programme. The Conservancy started out under the name “Klapmutskop Conservancy” with five farms - Delheim, Elsenburg, East Hill, Le Bonheur and Warwick. The Conservancy has since grown to the current 19 farms. These wine farms act as curators of the conservancy and plough their efforts into protecting and conserving the area through sustainable practices.

300 Year old Yellowwood Forest (Podocarpus elongates): Klapmutskop is just 150 hectares in size but bursting with wildlife and rare gems. A massive fire in 2000 and the clearance of alien trees from the slopes of Klapmutskop led to the discovery on top of the mountain, of an indigenous yellowwood forest. The Breederiver Yellowwood trees (Podocarpus elongates), some of which are 300 years-old, represent the southernmost patch of the species. The old yellowwoods frame your path by archways of branches. Miraculously surviving what nature’s served up over the years, this small indigenous forest acts as a stark reminder of why conservation is so essential. In January 2007, an intense veld fire ravaged the south-western slopes of Klapmutskop. This was the fourth fire in 64 years and it was also the worst. Although the Yellowwood forest was badly damaged, it survived. The miracle of fire is that fynbos needs to burn in order to rejuvenate itself and for the seeds to germinate. Seeds sometimes lie dormant in the soil for many years and it is only a veld fire that will provoke these hidden treasures to re-sprout and flourish again. For this reason, it is very important that, after a fire, visitors keep to the marked paths that are available to visitors who pay a modest fee for their permit, of which 25% is ploughed back into the Conservancy. Klapmutskop is botanically significant because it is a meeting point for three different geological formations: Sandstone, Granite and Conglomerate (Magrug Formation). These formations support different vegetation types; Mountain Fynbos/Afromontane Forest (Sandstone), Boland Granite, Fynbos (Granite) and a Mountain Fynbos-Boland, Granite Fynbos mosaic (Magrug).