PARTNER STORY
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amibians are nature lovers by nature. It’s all about the call of the wild, the pull towards spaces where you can breathe and move and be, away from noise and traffic and intrusions. But as more people flock to the cities and crime rates rise, solitary hikes or cycles in the veld have become increasingly risky.
“There was increased crime in Windhoek and we thought that the trails were a way for IJG to give back to the community,” says Mark Späth, Group Managing Director of IJG Holdings. For the past three years, IJG, a bespoke financial solutions company, has sponsored the IJG Trails, a secure, regulated outdoor sanctuary on Farm Windhoek. “I think being active, especially in nature, is essential. If you are fit and healthy you are more proactive and productive at work.
“Farm Windhoek is a tract of land to the south of Windhoek that sits on top of the aquifer, so effectively nothing can be developed there. Due to the close proximity to Windhoek, livestock poaching is a huge problem. This resulted in the idea to allow cyclists to use the trails on the land, because with more people around there would hopefully be less poaching. “Initially the concept was to cater to the mountain-biking community, but there was also a demand for a safe place in nature where people can go birdwatching, take their dogs for a walk, or go trail running. With more activities, including a planned two-kilometre walking path, the farm is becoming a community-friendly space. “Farm Windhoek Fitness has set up an outdoor gym on the farm and they want to go a step further by actually creating a trail-run series on IJG Trails. More schools are now using the trails for mountain biking and other outdoor activities. There are hundreds of routes, so cyclists can do different
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routes all the time. Anybody can go to the IJG Trails, so if you need to escape the city and get moving out in the bush, IJG Trails is there for you.” Peter van der Merwe heartily confirms the positive effect that IJG’s involvement has had on the farm. “Over the two years since IJG became involved as a sponsor, there have hardly been any crime incidents on the farm. We have 17 people on the project primarily working on security, including ex-special force consultants and 11 security guards. My wife and I are both engineers, so we also make sure that the trail building and other physical developments are soil preserving and environmentally friendly.” These passionate trailblazers have many plans to make sure that it remains a jungle out there, for all of us. Watch this green space ...