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| Cape Flats badlands get a touch of green |
| February 17 2004 at 05:51AM |
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By Gordon Bell
The area, consisting largely of tiny shacks and winding dirt roads, is also at the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom and an international "hotspot" of biodiversity with more than 1 400 indigenous plant species. Continues Below ↓ Of these, 131 species are rare or endangered and 76 are "narrow endemics", occurring only in the immediate surrounds. Protecting biological gems like this is high on the agenda of a conference in Kuala Lumpur, which ends next week, where government officials from around the world will discuss how to slow the loss of endangered species such as those found here. The 37 hectare park is one of four pilot sites - along with the larger Macassar Dunes on the False Bay coast, Wolfgat and the nine hectare Harmony Flats Nature Reserve near Somerset West - that form part of Cape Town's biodiversity network. Tanya Goldman, a project manager with Cape Flats Nature, says the community has embraced the programme, with the park providing a safe recreation and a valuable education resource. But the primary aim is conservation. "You would never guess, but there is something special happening here on the Cape Flats that is not happening on Table Mountain," she said. Birds are flocking to the site and more than 80 species have now been spotted since alien plants were removed. Recently a western leopard toad - said to be one of the rarest in the world and thought to have been lost to the region - was found at the park. On the plant side, the isoetes capensis fern is only found on this former dumping site. The Cape region as a whole is a natural treasure trove. Spanning 90 000 square kilometre - about the size of Portugal - it is the richest of the planet's six floral kingdoms and, at 1/1000th the size of the northern hemisphere's Boreal Kingdom, is the smallest. It is also the only floral kingdom found entirely in one country, and is home to 9 600 plant species, of which 70 percent are found nowhere else in the world. The best known plant species is the fynbos, mostly small dense scrubs that include the magnificent proteas, window-box geraniums and sweet-scented freesias. The biodiversity of the region has declined at an unprecedented rate as human encroachment, alien species and fire take its toll of the landscape. The worrying trend spurned the formation of CAPE - Cape Action for People and the Environment. "The kingdom is not just valuable from a biodiversity standpoint but is crucial to the economy of the whole region," says Trevor Sandwith, who heads the project. He estimates biodiversity, through tourism and direct or indirect uses, to be worth R10-billion a year to the local economy. Sandwith said about 11 percent of the floral kingdom is formally conserved, but large tracks of farmland make the project's task tricky. Alien species are seen as one of the most significant threats to biodiversity worldwide and has been a massive problem for the Cape. In a boost for the city, the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) set up its international secretariat at Cape Town's Kirstenbosch Gardens last month. Water hyacinth blocks many of the city's rivers and canals every year, while the Mediterranean mussel has replaced the indigenous species as the most common along the rocky shore. These are just two examples of targets of an extensive campaign to rid the region of plants and animals brought in from abroad that threaten the existing vegetation. As that battle continues the people of the Cape Flats are quickly learning the value of greener pastures. "In my Xhosa language we don't have a word for biodiversity... but this (the Edith Stephens Wetland Park) is like a bridge between the social baggage of the country and what Cape Town has to offer," Peter said.
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