n 2000 Martiens became an honorary officer in the local conservation agency. He learned of the actual size of the oribi, kudu, reedbuck, and warthog populations of the region, but they were under threat. Establishing a conservation area would provide better protection but convincing the landowners of this was challenging. The farmers' main concern was that they would lose control over their land. They were eventually mollified, and the Mpungini Conservation Area was registered in 2002 with Martiens
