THE LITHOPS  RESEARCH & CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

Ever since 2012, we, Hilde and Frikkie Mouton and Roy Earlé and Janice Round, have undertaken regular field trips to different Lithops colonies in both Namibia and South Africa in pursuit of a hobby. However, it soon became clear to us all, that we could gather useful biological and ecological information when visiting these colonies particularly as there appears to be a severe lack of such information on the plants. By 2014 we had reached the conclusion that we should solidify the data gathering and conservation work done to date by forming the Lithops  Research & Conservation Foundation.

The base of the Lithops Research & Conservation Foundation is at Alte Kalköfen Lodge near Bethanie in southern Namibia. Frikkie Mouton and Hilde Mouton are the owners of the Lodge and have been active Lithops enthusiasts for nearly twenty years. In addition to the Lodge owners, Roy Earlé and Janice Round spend at least three months every year at the Lodge during which time the four current members of the Foundation do most of their research work on the Lithops colonies.

The Cole Lithoparium at Alte Kalköfen Lodge houses a large collection of all of the Lithops species, subspecies and variations, as well as many other succulent plants. The Lithops collection has recently been greatly enlarged by the addition of the total collection from the late Tok Schoeman, which has now been incorporated into the only registered collection of Lithops in Namibia. The Lithops  Research & Conservation Foundation  also has a large collection of Lithops plants in the midlands in the United Kingdom.

Both of these collections are used as educational centres for the many tourists who visit the Cole Lithoparium at Alte Kalköfen Lodge in Namibia and for occasional visitors to the greenhouse in the UK. In addition, the collections also produce a large number of seeds every year which are then used in our conservation programmes.