This article 2 aims to determine the reasons why members of one congregation migrate to another, and to identify factors that play a role in this process. These are determined by the nature and functioning of congregations. This qualitative research involved members of three different congregations that had recently experienced a positive growth in membership numbers. The effects of secularisation and the Enlightenment, and their consequences at various levels, as well as the theories of McDonaldisation and Consumerism were taken into consideration to explain the migration of church members between congregations. The answer is not simple in the sense that two tendencies can be identified: 'push' factors that activate the tendency to move out of the previous congregation, and a drawing or 'pulling' tendency, representing those factors that attract people. It can be stated that the reasons for migration can, to a large extent, be traced to the nature and functioning of the congregation. In addition, clear tendencies can be identified in terms of 'push' and 'pull' factors. 1Read: "the changing of members' church affiliation". 2Part of this article is based on "Redes vir die migrasie van lidmate van een gemeente na 'n ander -'n praktiese teologiese studie by enkele Bloemfonteinse Christen gemeentes", an unpublished MTh dissertation, Bloemfontein: University of the Free State by I.M. Bredenkamp, 2014.

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During the 1970s collaborative conservation between management bodies and citizens became a field of academic interest. It is globally practised today and implies consensus-based decision-making, often with a special emphasis on conflict resolution. Although collaborative conservation is a contemporary academic field, the history of the Marloth Nature Reserve, located in the Langeberg Mountains near Swellendam in the southern Cape, serves as a historic example of collaborative conservation. Created in 1928, the reserve originally comprised approximately 123 ha. Today, it is a World Heritage Site, 14 256 ha in size, with an abundance of mountain fynbos, birdlife and small wildlife. One of the most renowned national hiking trails, the Swellendam Circular Trail of 53 km, runs through the reserve. Although the determination of the original boundaries of the reserve in 1928 can be seen as a fairly successful example of collaborative conservation based on consensus decision-making, the inclusion of the foothills in 1942 resulted in a prolonged process of conflict resolution, with the main protagonists being the Department of Forestry and Ms Aletta Tomlinson, a life-long resident of Swellendam. This article gives an overview of this case study through the historic narrative, indicating how, through sheer persistence, Aletta Tomlinson eventually succeeded in procuring the foothills as part of the reserve and aided in securing the indigenous flora of the Marloth Nature Reserve as part of the Cape Floristic World Heritage Site.