Global partnership guarantees biodiversity protection in SAs endangered Renosterveld
An influential partnership between conservation organisations and the Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust (ORCT) has secured the protection of 500 hectares of globally important and endangered habitat in the Overberg district of the Western Cape in South Africa – providing a lifeline for species that would otherwise be at risk of vanishing forever.
Renosterveld, which literally translated means ‘rhino veld’, is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom – the smallest and richest of the six plant kingdoms in the world. It’s known as the shy sister of the more well-known fynbos habitat but is arguably the richest of all Mediterranean shrublands.
However, renosterveld faces extinction, with only 5% of the original extent remaining on the planet. This landscape has been shaped by decades of large-scale agriculture, meaning that most of what’s left untouched occurs as tiny fragments on outcrops, steep hills and in valleys in the Overberg Rûens. Despite this, renosterveld still provides a haven for an abundance of biodiversity.
Source: WhyAfrica
