Bracken Nature Reserve | |
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Location | Brackenfell, Western Cape, South Africa |
Coordinates | 33°52′42″S18°42′49″E / 33.8784°S 18.7137°E [1] Coordinates: 33°52′42″S18°42′49″E / 33.8784°S 18.7137°E [2] |
Area | 36 hectares (89 acres) |
Bracken Nature Reserve is a 36-hectare (89-acre) piece of protected land in Brackenfell in the Western Cape, South Africa. [3]
This park preserves badly threatened Cape Flats Sand Fynbos and Swartland Granite Renosterveld vegetation. A diverse array of orchids, succulents and flowering bulbs are among the over 160 plant species that occur here. Of these, ten occur only within the City of Cape Town and are in serious danger of extinction, including Antimima aristulata, cowslip (Lachenalia aloides), canary yellow vygie (Lampranthus glaucus) and carrion flower (Orbea variegate). [4] [3] The park is also home to a variety of small mammals, reptiles and amphibians, as well as range of bird species.
There is an indigenous garden at the entrance, and footpaths that take visitors past birdlife and views of the surrounding countryside. The reserve is situated on top of an old quarry and landfill site so gas extraction pipes have had to be installed, to let the excess gases from the decomposing waste escape. [5]
Fynbos is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate and rainy winters. The fynbos ecoregion is within the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. In fields related to biogeography, fynbos is known for its exceptional degree of biodiversity and endemism, consisting about 80% species of the Cape floral kingdom where nearly 6,000 of them are endemic. This land continues to face severe human-caused threats, but due to the many economic uses of the fynbos, conservation efforts are being made to help restore it.
The Cape Floristic Region is a floristic region located near the southern tip of South Africa. It is the only floristic region of the Cape Floristic Kingdom, and includes only one floristic province, known as the Cape Floristic Province.
Rondebosch Common is an open common of about 40 hectares in Rondebosch, Cape Town in South Africa. A common is defined as "A piece of open land for public use, esp. in a village or town." It contains one of the only surviving pockets of the critically endangered “Cape Flats Sand Fynbos” vegetation type, which exists nowhere else in the world.
Cape Flats Dune Strandveld is an endangered vegetation type. This is a unique type of Cape Strandveld that is endemic to the coastal areas around Cape Town, including the Cape Flats.
Atlantis Sand Fynbos is a critically endangered fynbos vegetation type that occurs to the north of Cape Town, in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Cape Flats Sand Fynbos (CFSF), previously known as Sand Plain Fynbos, is a critically endangered vegetation type that occurs only within the city of Cape Town. Less than 1% of this unique lowland fynbos vegetation is conserved.
Hangklip Sand Fynbos is an endangered vegetation type that occurs in the southern coastal portion of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos is a critically endangered vegetation type that is endemic to Cape Town. Though closest to Fynbos, it has characteristics of both Fynbos and Renosterveld vegetation and is thus actually a unique hybrid vegetation type.
Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos is a critically endangered vegetation type occurring in the far south of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area is a 52-hectare (130-acre) nature reserve, situated in the centre of Kenilworth Racecourse, in Cape Town, South Africa. Due to its location, it has been left undisturbed for more than 100 years, making it now the best preserved patch of “Cape Flats Sand Fynbos” in the world.
Meadowridge Common is an 8-hectare (20-acre) reserve in the Meadowridge suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, which preserves a fragment of critically endangered Cape Flats Sand Fynbos vegetation.
Edith Stephens Wetland Park is a nature reserve for wetlands and fynbos, located in the city of Cape Town, South Africa.
Witzands Aquifer Nature Reserve is a 3,000-hectare (7,400-acre) protected natural area in Cape Town, South Africa, located on the city’s northern outskirts. This reserve protects an important part of Cape Town’s natural and cultural heritage, including the Atlantis Aquifer.
Tygerberg Nature Reserve is a 300-hectare (740-acre) nature reserve on the Tygerberg Hills in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa.
Uitkamp Wetland Nature Reserve is a 32-hectare (79-acre) wetland reserve located in Durbanville in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Durbanville Nature Reserve is a 6-hectare (15-acre) piece of protected land, located next to the Durbanville Racecourse in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve is a 9-hectare (22-acre) piece of protected land, located between Strand and Gordon's Bay, South Africa. It protects a surviving fragment of critically endangered Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos vegetation.
Blaauwberg Nature Reserve was proclaimed a local and provincial nature reserve in 2007. The reserve has views down fynbos slopes, across the city, to seven kilometres of rocky and sandy coastline and the ocean and beyond. The reserve presents itself as one of the few viewpoints in the world from where you can see two proclaimed world heritage sites, namely Table Mountain and Robben Island.
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