Delightful bursts of colour have begun to overpower greenery at Cape Town’s Durbanville Nature Reserve as the annual flowering season revs into full swing.
In an effort to encourage residents to get out and explore this beautiful reserve, the City of Cape Town has extended its operating hours into the weekend, with the reserve now open on weekdays from 7am to 16.00, Saturdays from 8am to 13.00 and Sundays from 12.00 to 17.00.
In a media release, the city said that the reserve, located along Racecourse Road in Durbanville, offers a range of activities and facilities, including walking trails, wheelchair-friendly pathways, environmental education activities as well as picnic sites, which are located at the main entrance and the southern section of the reserve.
The reserve consists of six hectares of pristine coastal fynbos within the heart of the city where the critically endangered Swartland shale Renosterveld and the Cape Flats sand fynbos meet.
In addition, there are an estimated 241 plant species, three endemic to Cape Town, with six threatened with extinction.
Local non-profit Swartland Renosterveld is dedicated to protecting and conserving the critically endangered Renosterveld Flora of the Swartland, which is one of the world’s “Hottest” Hotspots for threatened red list plants.
“The Swartland is a “Top Priority” region for the conservation of floristic diversity and a major Centre of Plant Narrow Endemism (CPNE) and secondly “fence-to-fence” land-use change and associated habitat loss has wiped out over 95 percent of the region’s natural Swartland Renosterveld vegetation,” the NPO said.
The Swartland’s Renosterveld precious floral heritage is severely under-appreciated and is threatened with imminent extinction. Swartland Renosterveld aims to change this situation and promote the recovery of the region’s precious Renosterveld flora.
Also home to several animal species, the Durbanville Nature Reserve boasts several species of birds, such as the Cape Sugarbird, Double-Collared Sunbird and Cape Spurfowl, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.
The Grey Mongoose and Angulate Tortoise also occur within the reserve, as well as the endemic and vulnerable Cape Rain Frog, which can be heard when it rains.
“Cape Town is unique due to its high concentration of local flora and fauna species. Our nature reserves protect and conserve our city’s natural areas and biodiversity heritage,” the city said.
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