Mpumalanga is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It constitutes 6.5% of South Africa's land area. It shares borders with the South African provinces of Limpopo to the north, Gauteng to the west, the Free State to the southwest, and KwaZulu-Natal to the south. The capital is Mbombela. Mpumalanga was formed in 1994 at the end of apartheid, when the Eastern Transvaal was merged with KaNgwane.
Table Mountain National Park, previously known as the Cape Peninsula National Park, is a national park in Cape Town, South Africa, proclaimed on 29 May 1998, for the purpose of protecting the natural environment of the Table Mountain Chain, and in particular the rare fynbos vegetation. The park is managed by South African National Parks. The property is included as part of the UNESCO Cape Floral Region World Heritage Site.
Dwesa-Cwebe Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa that is managed by Eastern Cape Parks & Tourism Agency. The park has an area of 5,450 hectares. The Dwesa-Cwebe Marine Protected Area, that has been added to the park has an area of 19,293 hectares.
The QwaQwa National Park is part of the Golden Gate Highlands National Park and the Maloti-Drakensberg Park and comprises the former Bantustan (homeland) of QwaQwa. It is approximately 60 km from Harrismith on the Golden Gate Road (R712) and formed an integral part of the Highlands Treasure Route.
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 few surviving pockets of the critically endangered “Cape Flats Sand Fynbos” vegetation type, which exists nowhere else in the world.
Palmiet Nature Reserve is located in Westville, a town located ten kilometres from Durban, South Africa. The reserve is made up of a wide variety of natural habitats ranging from forests to grassland. Hundreds of bird species have been recorded and the tree list is extensive. There are a number of self-guided trails that include river crossings. The diversity seen in the Palmiet Nature Reserve has been extensively threatened by human activity and invasive species, leading to the need for more pronounced guidelines on how to protect and reserve the area.
The Harold Porter National Botanical Garden covers almost 200 ha between mountain and sea, in the heart of the Cape Fynbos region within the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve to the east of Cape Town, South Africa, specifically near Betty's Bay along Clarence Drive (R44). With about 1,600 plant species, the area contains a floral diversity per unit area that is greater than anywhere else in the world. The Garden consists of 10 hectares of cultivated gardens and 190.5 hectares of pristine natural fynbos. In addition, 60 species of birds can be found there, as well as porcupines, genets, skunks, hyraxes, baboons, and snakes. Foot trails reach cliffs, ravines, heaths, forests, streams, and mountain pools.
The Krantzkloof Nature Reserve, managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, conserves 668 ha of the Molweni and Nkutu River gorges that incise the sandstone Kloof plateau in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The reserve conserves coastal scarp forest, sourveld grassland, a cliff face biotope, and aquatic environments along its rivers. Scarp forest is a threatened forest type, protected by South Africa's forests act of 1998, while the grassland is classified as KwaZulu-Natal sandstone sourveld, the most threatened terrestrial habitat in the Durban metropole. The reserve was established in 1950 and was augmented by land donations as late as 1999.
Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve is located at the mouth of the Umgeni River in Durban North, a suburb of Durban, South Africa. The nature reserve, proclaimed in 1977, protects 76 hectares of a natural estuarine system, and was declared a national monument in 1980.
Virginia Bush Nature Reserve is a 38 hectare coastal bush reserve in the suburb of Durban North, Durban, South Africa. The reserve is currently under the auspices of the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D'MOSS).
Seaton Park Nature Reserve is conservation area in the suburb of Durban North, Durban, South Africa. The reserve is a six hectare remnant of coastal forest, with trails throughout. The park is named after a Mrs Seaton, who bequeathed the land for the park.
North Park Nature Reserve is a protected area along the banks of the Umhlatuzana River, near Queensburgh in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The park was proclaimed in 1968 and is managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife.
The marine protected areas of South Africa are in an area of coastline or ocean within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Republic of South Africa that is protected in terms of specific legislation for the benefit of the environment and the people who live in and use it. An MPA is a place where marine life can thrive under less pressure than unprotected areas. They are like underwater parks, and this healthy environment can benefit neighbouring areas.
The Goukamma Marine Protected Area is an inshore conservation region near Knysna in the territorial waters of South Africa
Silverglen Nature Reserve is a 460 hectare conservancy on the Umlaas River located aside the suburb of Silverglen, Chatsworth, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The reserve is the largest piece of coastal grassland and bush clump mosaic in Greater Durban, and is home to the first medicinal plant nursery in Africa, established in 1986.
Giba Gorge Nature Reserve is an environmental precinct in Outer West Durban, South Africa. The gorge is a natural valley carved by the Giba River, with steep rocky cliffs and natural grassland slopes. Within the precinct is a mountain bike park with a 35km single track.
The Biodiversity of South Africa is the variety of living organisms within the boundaries of South Africa and its exclusive economic zone. South Africa is a region of high biodiversity in the terrestrial and marine realms. The country is ranked sixth out of the world's seventeen megadiverse countries, and is rated among the top 10 for plant species diversity and third for marine endemism.
Serruria furcellata, the Kraaifontein spiderhead, is a flower-bearing shrub that belongs to the genus Serruria and forms part of the fynbos. The plant is native to the Western Cape, it has always been found at Brackenfell, Kraaifontein and Kuils River.
The Umtiza Nature Reserve is one of two forest nature reserves in the greater East London Coast Nature Reserve. It is named after Umtiza listeriana, a rare and protected legume found within the reserve. The Buffalo River borders the northern part of the reserve, and includes the remaining Umtiza Forest on the southern banks of the river. The Buffalo Pass traverses the entirety of the reserve and the surrounding Controlled Forest Area.
