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De Berg Nature Reserve, which forms part of the Booysendal offset area and is managed by the Buttonshope Conservancy Trust, has been declared South Africa’s 30th Ramsar site under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.

A Ramsar site is a wetland of international importance – designated under an environmental treaty established in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran – to promote wetland conservation and sustainable use. The announcement was made on World Wetlands Day 2024. Located along the headwaters of the Dwars River in Mpumalanga, the site features high-altitude wetlands, valley bottom seeps and mountain streams. It supports numerous threatened and vulnerable species encompassing 878 indigenous plant species (including five new species), 18 frog species, 71 reptile species, 432 bird species and 120 mammal species. The designation of De Berg Nature Reserve contributes to protecting these biodiversity hotspots and provides clean water to national and international users.

A process, which requires ministerial consent, is currently underway to regularise the De Berg Nature Reserve, currently known as Davel Private Nature Reserve and proclaimed in 1965.