Cape Town - Non-Profit Organisation Fynbos LIFE launched the Cape Flats Fynbos Nursery, in Muizenberg, to encourage locally indigenous plantings in urban gardens and to turn homeowners into biodiversity custodians.
Fynbos LIFE programme manager and botanical ecologist Dr Caitlin von Witt said this was the first nursery of its kind, where plants were grouped according to broad veld type – for gardeners to easily identify which wild plants would have occurred naturally in their area before urbanisation and reintroduce them to the environment.
The programme manager said locally indigenous plants provided food and shelter for small animals and encouraged colonisation, migration and interbreeding of wildlife populations, which ultimately enhanced the viability of fragmented conservation areas in the city.
“We hope to encourage locally indigenous plantings in urban gardens and turn Cape Town’s homeowners into biodiversity custodians,” said Von Witt.
Von Witt said they supplied both common and very threatened plant species, all occurring naturally in Cape Town’s remaining wild areas – some of which support threatened local animals (such as the spear grass, supporting the critically endangered Cape Flats ranger butterfly).
Cape Flats Fynbos Nursery manager Erin Frances said they were pleased with the support shown at the launch, as they were the first nursery in Cape Town to be supplying these wild plants that were locally indigenous to the Cape Town lowlands.
“For people to be able to grow these plants in their gardens, is going to give our locally indigenous biodiversity a much needed boost after the effects of urbanisation on Cape Town’s biodiversity,” said Frances.
Von Witt said the main challenge they faced in establishing the new nursery was funding the infrastructure and construction, fortunately, they had a fantastic team of volunteers and supporters that responded generously to their Back-a-Buddy campaign.
Volunteer Helen Mitchell said, as development came in, it denuded the environment of any vegetation so – if they could get more indigenous plants growing in gardens and reintroduce the natural vegetation – they could give local conservation a fighting chance.
Volunteer Philippa Clemo said she’s been growing locally indigenous plants for more than eight years in her garden and these species required minimum care due to their location.
“This encouraged me to learn all about the amazing biodiversity here in Cape Town and get involved with the nursery. It was great to be part of the team and, going forward, I am hoping to spread the word about the benefits of growing locally indigenous plants in gardens,” said Clemo.
“The more wildlife gardens we create in suburbia, the healthier and more resilient our environment will be to climate change,” said Von Witt.