“We aim to heal the relationship between plants, birds and people by restoring migration routes for nectar feeding birds across the city.”
Ingcungcu Sunbird Restoration aims to link the Table Mountain National Park with the Boland Mountains via a series of pollinator gardens that will act as filling stations for migrating sunbirds and sugarbirds crossing the densely urbanized Cape Flats. This migration route is especially important when fires temporarily decimate the vegetation, forcing the birds to leave in search of nectar. We are reopening this route by planting gardens of carefully selected nectar-producing plants on strategically located school grounds where they act as ‘filling stations’ for birds. The migration corridor crosses the suburbs of Cape Town were school children from diverse backgrounds are engaged in all aspects of the project, from planting to the collection of bird and plant data. For many this is their only contact with nature.
Ingcungcu is an isiXhosa word meaning ‘long-billed bird’, and is also used to refer to royalty.
Executive Team
Ceinwen Smith – CEO & Founder
Ceinwen Smith oversees all aspects of the organisation and is actively involved with developing educational materials, designing and planting gardens and establishing strong relationships with funders and partners. Ceinwen is a marine scientist by training, a curious explorer by nature and an educator at heart. Her interests in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems focus on ecology, functional diversity, plant observation and phenomenology. Ceinwen joined the Ingcungcu team in 2017 and was instrumental in establishing the organisation as a non-profit company.
Joel Simons – Schools Program Manager
Joel Simons coordinates and runs Ingcungcu’s School Eco Club Programme. Joel has an MSc in City and Regional Planning and is a passionate educator, bird watcher and wildlife photographer. Joel’s work is driven not only by his love for nature but also by his mission of contributing to the creation of equitable and just cities. He joined the Ingcungcu team in 2022, where he develops the Eco Club curriculum and runs regular workshops and field trips with 60 learners at our four schools.
Board of Directors
Prof. Anton Pauw – Founder & Director
Prof. Anton Pauw has been teaching and conducting research in ecology at Stellenbosch University since 2004. The conservation of pollinators has been a focus throughout this time. His research has documented the loss of pollinators and their dependent plants from conservation areas in the city of Cape Town. In 2013, together with Prof. Sjirk Geerts and Bongani Mnisi, he started the Ingcungcu Sunbird Restoration as a research project.
Bongani Mnisi – Founder & Director
Bongani Mnisi has more than a decade of experience working in biodiversity and water resources management. He is the Head: Nature Conservation in the biodiversity management division of the City of Cape Town where he manages the largest part of the City’s Biodiversity Network including four nature reserves. Mnisi serves as chair of the Breede-Gouritz Catchment Management Agency (BGCMA), as well as the Board of Trustees of the Table Mountain Fund and its Conservation Committee. Mnisi completed his MSc thesis in 2017, which provides the foundation for Ingcungcu’s work, under the supervision of Prof. Pauw and Prof. Geerts. He also holds a BPhil degree in Sustainable Development Planning and Management and a BTech degree in Nature Conservation. He presented his work on Biodiversity and Climate Change at two international conferences in 2012 and 2016.
Prof. Sjirk Geerts – Founder & Director
Prof. Sjirk Geerts is an ecologist by training. He completed his PhD thesis on sunbird pollination under Prof. Pauw. His research on sunbirds has been published in a number of top ecological journals. Since 2013 he has been a lecturer in the Department of Conservation and Marine Science at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, where he is instrumental in training the next generation of nature conservators.
Connecting Plants, Birds and People 