The Klaserie Private Nature Reserve (KPNR) is one of the largest privately owned nature reserves in South Africa covering some 60 000 hectares and is part of the greater Kruger National Park.. It is an entirely non-government organization involved in the full spectrum of Nature Conservation.
The KPNR was established in 1969 and was officially proclaimed a nature reserve in 1972 with Jan de Necker as the founding chairman and Van Reenen Van Vuuren as the first warden. The reserve is run by an executive committee comprising members or landowners who are elected at the AGM and operate through the reserves warden Colin Rowles. Colin circulates a monthly report to all the members keeping them informed of the weather, the condition and status of the fauna and flora and any other matter of general interest.

The KPNR is a member of the Association of Private Nature Reserves(APNR), a cooperative organization established to coordinate the interests of its members and to act as a single body in interacting with government entities. The association comprises Klaserie, Timbavati, The Umbabat and Balule.

We are deeply committed to and host an organization called The Children’s Environmental Training Program (CET) which has been very successful in interacting with the children of the local community from a general education perspective. The program has a specific focus on the environment and the significance and importance of it to our lives and the future of our country.

We host The Ground Hornbill Project which is sponsored by The Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology and directed by Professor Phil Hockey. There are two other research projects within the APNR. The elephant research project operating under the umbrella of “Save the Elephants” founded by Dr Ian Douglas Hamilton and the “Tembo” project currently studying buffalo. This is one of the projects hosted by the Resource Ecology group of the University of Wageningen in the Netherlands.

There are various commercial operations within the KPNR ranging from rustic bush camps and walking trails to luxury game lodges. It is the Reserves policy to keep the commercial and thus human impact to a minimum as it is our mission to make the KPNR as near a pristine environment as possible.