Early in January 2006 we received a flight request from Rob Stegmann of the East London Coast Nature Reserves (ELCNR), asking for help with a third aerial survey of illegal developments within the coastal conservation area of the Wild Coast.  This photograph shows the team who conducted the survey:  (from left) Rob Stegmann (ELCNR), Brigette Maingard (photographer), Paul Dutton (Bateleur pilot), and Alexander Mbayo (Assistant to Rob). 

Following this mission, we asked DEAET if they would like The Bateleurs to perform regular monitoring missions over this area in 2006.  Our approach elicited the following response from Div de Villiers of DEAET in the Eastern Cape -:

"Thank-you for the telephone call this morning and the great news that The Bateleurs will assist with a monthly flight along the Wild Coast for the duration of 2006. I received some footage from Paul Dutton following last week's flight and I expect more from Rob Stegmann before the end of the week.

The illegal development that is taking place is frightening and one only appreciates the magnitude thereof when one sees it from the air. It takes our ground staff ages to get to these illegal activities and quite often we only stumble across the illegalities by chance
because the areas along the Wild Coast are so inaccessible.

The flights will also enable us to establish where other environmental crime is occurring. The indigenous forests along the coast are being cleared for roads, crops, muthi and dagga. Poaching is also rife. The flights will help enormously to locate where such activities are occurring. Our ground staff can then take action.

Rob Stegmann has been assigned the task of aerial surveillance and will be the official who will accompany the pilots on most of the flights. If we need assistance with other environmental operations we will motivate them separately.

On behalf of all the Environmental Officers who are working the Wild Coast I would like to extend our gratitude to you and to The Bateleurs for the assistance that you have given us thus far and for the generous offer of assistance with other environmental work that requires aerial surveillance too.

We look forward to more joint operations in 2006."