The Klein Swartberg Conservancy was registered on 19 May 2000 under the visionary leadership of Michael Swart, owner of the historic farm Swartrivier, in the district of Caledon in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

The original purpose of the Conservancy was to create a vehicle under whose umbrella the 18 private landowners of about 8000 hectares of the Klein Swartberg Mountain could combine their endeavours to restore the mountain to its original glory as an irreplaceable fynbos jewel in the Cape Floristic Kingdom.   At that stage it was already evident that the momentum of invasive alien infestation would have to be slowed down significantly if the biodiversity-loss and the ecological balance of the entire landscape was to be restored.

Since the foundation of the Conservancy significant progress has been achieved with large areas of heavy invasive alien infestation cleared and the cleared landscapes restored to its original state with visible evidence of endemic species returning and lost biodiversity recovering.