Restoring historically significant ecosystems through eco-tourism with the San people in Southern Africa

The ecologically highly valuable fynbos forests in the Western Cape are severely threatened in their existence by climate change and agriculture as well as invasive species introduced by it. Throughout human history, these ecosystems have repeatedly formed vital retreats in earlier times of climate change. As part of the West Coast Biodiversity Corridor, the project supports the traditional San people living here in protecting and restoring their traditional ecological habitat. The San are to impart their way of life, their knowledge, their culture and tradition as well as their diet to visitors/tourists and to be trained (e.g. in restaurants, as tour guides) in order to be able to generate income for their communities in an already existing on-site visitor center with overnight accommodation and to generate income for the restoration and protection of their traditional ecosystem and homeland.