Less than 10% of the Western Cape’s endemic lowland Renosterveld can still be found across the province. Fragmented in between converted land – urban and agricultural spaces – the grassy shrubland occurs on islands dispersed between hostile environments. SMF News’ Abigail Baard spoke to Renosterveld experts who devote their time to conserving this unique vegetation type.
It’s a sunny day in April. Botanist Rupert Koopman is walking through the dry, brown grass of Boland Park, a public park located in Durbanville. Koopman has worked in the plant conservation field for over twenty years. Within a couple of metres, he has already pointed out two red-listed Renosterveld species.
One, the Rafnia angulata subspecies ericifolia, is classified as critically endangered on South African National Biodiversity Institute’s (SANBI) Red List of South African Plants. This means that it faces an extremely high risk of extinction.
Boland Park in Durbanville falls under the ‘no mow’ position the City of Cape Town has adopted. This means that the indigenous vegetation in Boland Park is being protected. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
The historical vegetation of Boland Park is a critically endangered vegetation type, called Swartland Silcrete Renosterveld, according to the information board erected at the park’s entrance. The current indigenous plant species count at Boland Park stands at 130, according to Koopman.
Within the fynbos biome there are around 120 vegetation types. Renosterveld falls within these vegetation types, explains Dr. Odette Curtis-Scott who received her PhD in botany from the University of Cape Town.
Boland Park in Durbanville falls under the City of Cape Town’s (CoCT) Recreation and Parks Department’s ‘no mowing’ position,“which aims to protect remnants of indigenous vegetation found within the fynbos biome,” according to Patricia van der Ross, mayoral committee member for community service and health at CoCT. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
‘The ugly stepsister of fynbos’
Fynbos is well known for its big showy species such as proteas and erics. In contrast, Renosterveld is more of a grassy shrubland that peaks in spring, but most of its flowers go dormant the rest of the year, says Curtis-Scott.
Renosterveld can sometimes be seen as “the ugly stepsister of fynbos” because it is not as showy, says Bruce Esau, a conservation horticulturist at Avondale Gardens, in Durbanville. Therefore, he says, people are often not aware of its diversity and beauty.
“[Renosterveld] has this deceptive drab appearance […] a lot of the year round, and that is what makes people think there is nothing special about it,” says Curtis-Scott. “But if you look closely, within that the plant diversity is off the charts, and probably [among] the highest in the world in terms of mediterranean ecosystems.”
Renosterveld is endemic to the Cape region of South Africa, says Koopman. Additionally, many Renosterveld species are largely range specific, therefore within the fynbos biome to which they are endemic they are specific to certain areas, says Curtis-Scott.
Bristle Nursery, owned by Discover Renosterveld, undergoes rehabilitation projects in wild areas, evaluating these areas in order to determine which plants and Renosterveld need to be put back, says Lynda Muller, owner of Discover Renosterveld. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
Only 5% left
Lowland Renosterveld is found on low-lying areas with fertile soil, according to Curtis-Scott. This makes the lowlands suitable for agriculture, and therefore Renosterveld often bears the brunt of the need to grow food, says Curtis-Scott. In the same way, urban development has also filled these spaces, she says.
About 95% of the Cape’s original lowland Renosterveld has been lost, according to Curtis-Scott.
The 5% of natural Renosterveld that is left, is fragmented, and is found on “little islands in a sea of converted lands”, says Curtis-Scott. Converted lands – referring to agricultural and urban spaces – are environments that are relatively hostile to life that would have existed there before, said Curtis-Scott.
Most of these Renosterveld remnants occur on private farmland, and only about 2% of what is left, is formally protected, according to experts at CapeNature.
The current theory is that this fragmentation will have a negative effect on ecosystem functioning, because the fragments of Renosterveld are so far apart, forcing animals such as insects and birds to travel through the hostile environments, says Curtis-Scott. These animals both pollinate and disperse seeds through their movement, says Koopman.
If there is no movement between plants there is a loss of genetic diversity, which is required to make plants more resilient, said André Venter, Renosterveld enthusiast and member of the Wildflowers Stepping Stones Project (WSSP).
Challenges in the city
Maintaining the fragmented remnants of Renosterveld found in urban spaces comes with various challenges. In order to maintain healthy Renosterveld big animals and fire is required, which is challenging to provide in urban areas, explains Koopman.
Furthermore, there is a trend to plant trees in urban areas, which results in the fragments of natural vegetation already occurring in those areas, getting destroyed, claims Venter.
Koopman points out that the standard management practice in the city is to mow open spaces, which is not necessarily good for the survival of diverse endemic vegetation of those areas.
Venter explains that people want public parks to look flat, but this process destroys the diversity that is already there.
“It is a mind change that has to happen, for the veld [the natural vegetation of the area] to […] be established in our neighbourhoods again,” says Venter.
‘Slow down and look’
It is possible to find up to eighty different Renosterveld species in one square metre, claims Lynda Muller, the owner and director of Discover Renosterveld. Through this organisation, she runs a nursery that grows mainly Renosterveld. She also works to bring awareness and encourage the rewilding of Renosterveld by planting local and endemic Renosterveld back into the wild.
However because of Renosterveld’s unassuming appearance one has to slow down and look in order to see it, said Muller. “We talk about a hidden and nearly lost world, and then say slow down and look.”
Lynda Muller owner and director of Discover Renosterveld. Muller hopes to encourage the rewilding of Renosterveld by planting local and endemic Renosterveld back into the wild. Here, Muller is standing in the brand’s nursery, Bristle Nursery. PHOTO: Abigail Baard
‘No mow’
Boland Park is one of the public parks that falls under the ‘no mowing’ position the City of Cape Town’s (CoCT) Recreation and Parks Department has adopted. This is an “initiative which aims to protect remnants of indigenous vegetation found within the fynbos biome”, according to Patricia van der Ross, mayoral committee member for community service and health at the CoCT.
Areas that have been identified as environmental corridors and biodiverse areas that can connect to larger biodiverse areas fall under the no mow project, says Van der Ross. These areas act as conservation corridors connecting open spaces, nature reserves and national parks; this supports ecological processes by increasing genetic movement within the fragmented biodiversity landscape, says Van der Ross.