Cape Town - The Western Cape boasts its own globally unique plant kingdom in the form of its fynbos vegetation, or the Cape Floral Kingdom, that is one of just six such kingdoms in the entire world. Now, this kingdom also has its own “crown jewels”.
The precious gems making up this collection were publicly revealed on Thursday – appropriately, International Day for Biodiversity – at a function at Kirstenbosch where SA National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) chief executive Dr Tanya Abrahamse was guest speaker.
Kirstenbosch national botanic garden was the first of its kind in the country and is now part of the nine-strong suite managed by Sanbi.
Both the garden and its partner, the non-government conservation group BotSoc (Botanical Society of SA), were founded in mid-1913 and have been celebrating their respective centenaries with a joint programme over the past year. The jewellery collection is one of the “heritage projects” of these centenary celebrations.
It is a collection of bespoke jewellery created specially for this project that will be auctioned next month, with the proceeds going to support environmental education and outreach programmes through the Partnership Fund of the two organisations.
The 10-piece collection in platinum, gold, silver, diamonds and gemstones was created by seven of South Africa’s leading jewellers and inspired by the “iconic flora and fauna that has made Kirstenbosch famous”, says a media statement. “The jewellery will be auctioned as an exclusive, once-off ‘Centenary Collection’.
“Entitled ‘The Kirstenbosch Crown Jewels’ and described as ‘Treasures of the Cape Floral Kingdom immortalised in precious metals and gems’, it is based on the premise that every kingdom should have its own crown jewels.”
In her speech, Abrahamse revealed that the national zoo in Pretoria would be incorporated into Sanbi, adding animals to its responsibilities for the first time.
Formally called the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa, the 85ha zoo is currently a facility of the National Research Foundation. It is the largest zoo in the country and the only one with national status, and its facilities include a Biodiversity Conservation Centre in Mokopane, Limpopo.
“This is our final break from plants only, and it’s going to be very challenging,” she said.
The biggest challenge facing the “tree-hugging” sector – the biodiversity conservation sector – was to explain how important nature and bio- diversity were, and how value could be extracted from this.
Reminding the audience that South Africa had the biggest disparity in wages and income but also the third highest levels of biodiversity in the world, she said the biodiversity conservation sector had to “make the case” to Treasury and to ordinary citizens.
“If most people don’t get value (from biodiversity), it won’t be sustainable. So the big challenge for us in this sector is to make sure people see the value, and enjoy the value, and get jobs from Nature. We have a great responsibility in South Africa.”
Cape Argus