Protected areas within the northern section of the Maloti-Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site offer a unique opportunity to draw on the spectacular landscape of this area, particularly regarding the organising of sporting events.

 

Due to financial constraints within the State and Province, the wildlife subsidy has slowly been eroded and it has become increasingly difficult to achieve conservation goals. In order to try and "fill the gap", the Wildlands Conservation Trust (WILDTRUST) was established with the aim of supplementing state funding. At present,  WILDTRUST (a non-profit organisation) contributes approximately one million rand per year from its capital growth to fund purely conservation-orientated projects throughout the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

 

As part of this initiative, conservation staff from Royal Natal established the Mont-Aux-Sources 50km Challenge in 1993 to assist in contributing funds to the conservation activities at Royal Natal, not only from participants and sponsors, but also to generate further revenue through Ecotourism Operations.