Reserve Photos: Tessa Oliver

Cape Flats: Part of World’s smallest Floral Kingdom  Cape Flats and Lowlands are part of the Cape Floral Kingdom and is smaller and more threatened than any of the other Kingdoms.  Cape Floral Region – one of 25 Global Biodiversity Hotspots and first non-tropical one to be recognised

Cape Flats NR: Centre of the Cape Lowlands  Cape Flats: human impacted, little remaining natural vegetation  Map shows remnants  Zooming into the Cape Flats Nature Reserve, eighth most important site: due to size & floristics Dune Thicket Dune Thicket Sandplain Fynbos Sandplain Fynbos Ecotone

 Broad-leafed shrubs  Calcareous sand substrate  50% transformed in Cape Town  Much disturbed (sand-mining)  False Bay/Blaauwberg  Meets the 10% IUCN conservation target Cape Flats: Dune Thicket Related to Sub-tropical Thicket of the east coast

PProtea, fine-leafed and restio plants HHigh species richness DDeep, leached acid sands >> 75% transformed in Cape Town HHighly disturbed (invasives, mining) OOne percent conserved OOne percent conserved Cape Flats world highest species extinction rates! Cape Flats: Sandplain Fynbos

Cape Flats Nature Reserve 1998 <1 ha 3 ha 3 ha 10 ha 23 ha 6 ha Natural Vegetation: Area/Condition Sandplain Fynbos Dune Thicket

Coastal Thicket – Heavily Disturbed/Restoring Cape Flats Nature Reserve 2002 Annual Plants More Bare Ground Indicators of Disturbance

Cape Flats Nature Reserve 2002 Coastal Thicket –Slightly Disturbed/Original Site Original Reserve Least disturbed Reserve Extension Some restoration

Cape Flats Nature Reserve2002 Area excavated for building fill fill Gum Trees draw of surface moisture Lighter disturbance Invasives & Ploughing Sandplain Fynbos: Light and moderate disturbance

Cape Flats Nature Reserve2002 Hot Fire: slowish recovery Invasives Sandplain Fynbos: Light disturbance Area Highly human modified

Cape Flats Nature Reserve2002 Sandplain Fynbos: Light disturbance New Building 160 metres

Proposed New Development & Infrastructure New Building New Entrance New Ring road Upgrade road Concernedovercongestedentrance KeepExistingRoadSystem

8km radius and only two other reasonable habitats 8km8km Few and distant heighbours X ? Closest 2 sites lost or under threat and are Dune Thicket 9km9km Closest sites with Sandplain Fynbos all threatened ? ??X Cape Town

Botanical Society: Assessment of core sites 1997  Cape Flats NR: rated 8 th most important  Had the 8 th most number of species  Most isolated and last viable site in the central Cape Flats area  Only one of two sites to have a transition between veg. types Other Consideration…

Events since Botanical Society site ratings  #1 Milnerton RC been developed – small part reserved  #3 Macassar – sand mining/human pressure  #4 Kenilworth RC under threat of still more housing development  #7 N1-N7 brushcut by Eskom due to fire risks  #8 Cape Flats NR: development ? Only Rondebosch Com. & Rondevlei safe ?

 UWC 150 ha Estate  Custodian of 42 ha of natural habitat heritage  40 ha vacant disturbed space to develop The BCB request: Our new building is shifted 160 m Visit: A small step to the left…