A century since its discovery by Margaret Kenway while out walking with her father in 1925, a butterfly on the brink of extinction, the Wolkberg Zulu, will now be protected by law.

Thanks to landowner, Gustav van Veijeren, and in collaboration with the Lepidopterists’ Society of Africa (LSA) and the Endangered Wildlife Trust (EWT), a conservation servitude has been registered on the farm in Limpopo where the Critically Endangered Wolkberg Zulu butterfly (Alaena margaritacea) occurs. Work to establish the servitude was funded by Rand Merchant Bank.

The servitude, a form of Biodiversity Stewardship, is the first its kind to be established for the protection of a threatened butterfly species in South Africa.

”There are few countries in the world with as many threatened and endemic species as South Africa and it is this amazing diversity of life that makes the job of conservationists here so very exciting and challenging, said Ian Little of the EWT. “The formal protection of these unique and isolated habitats for these incredible species are the building blocks towards securing our natural heritage and the life-giving ecosystem services that are provided by these intact landscapes. We are proud to be the custodians of our unique and beautiful wildlife assets”.

The Wolkberg Zulu occurs on only two tiny sites at high altitudes on the slopes of the Wolkberg mountain range in Limpopo. This tiny butterfly, which is no more than 26 mm in size, intriguingly feeds on hard rock lichens that are almost impossible to separate from the rock.

The idea of the conservation servitude was initiated by the Lepidopterists’ Society’s Dr Dave Edge in 2021. After three years of hard work and patience, the Haenertsburg Wolkberg Zulu Conservation Servitude Committee spearheaded by Etienne Terblanche, who is also the LSA Custodian of Rare and Endangered Lepidoptera, worked closely with the landowner and the LSA to see the protective measurement through. The process was guided by a team from the EWT, who also funded the crucial legal support for the registration.

The COREL project, which focuses on Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) has been running since 2011.

“It is the landowner, Gustav van Veijeren, to whom we are most grateful for this hopeful development,” Terblanche said.

He added that the declaration of the conservation servitude creates a much better chance for future generations to enjoy and research this courageous little creature and its patch of critically endangered vegetation known as Woodbush Granite Grassland.

“We are over the moon,” he added, “and we hope that more landowners will follow in Gustav’s pioneering and big-hearted footsteps.”