After years of planning, meetings and effort the Batavia Street Fynbos Area in Bothasig has officially been opened.
In a subcouncil meeting last year, Xolelwa Lusithi, Area Head: Horticulture in the City of Cape Town’s Community Sservices and Health Directorate told ward councillors the area was a nature-sensitive site, and not a biodiversity one such as the Tygerberg Nature Reserve or Princess Vlei. She said several plants had been discovered, including 18 critically endangered species that had been identified. There were also several plans for the site, to be implemented over a few years.
To date, a wooden fence had been installed as had signs, such as those against dumping. This was made possible through ward allocation funds and the support of local councillor Miquette Temlett.
A group of vagrants who frequented the area were also asked to leave.
Future plans for the area include a proper pathway, benches and information boards about the different types of plants found in the area.
The official opening, on Saturday 25 October, included a ribbon-cutting ceremony conducted by Temlett herself.
In his speech, resident and Friends of Batavia Street Fynbos Area committee member Russell Hope said a few years ago the City of Cape Town’s Biodiversity Management branch had visited the site and confirmed the area is part of the Cape Flats Sand Fynbos biome, an incredibly rare and threatened vegetation type found nowhere else in the world.
He said it may only be 2,265 ha, and while it is too small to qualify as a formal nature reserve it is undoubtedly worthy of rewilding, restoring and protecting.
Hope said the benefits of the area for the City include reduced mowing and maintenance, a potential source of conservation nursery plants and a link to the Bothasig Fynbos Reserve, helping connect urban conservation areas.
Last year sowing of Protea seeds and planting fynbos began, as did some of the plants from the City’s Parks and Recreation Department and Serruria strawberry spiderhead.
Since May this area had remained vagrant-free, a big milestone for safety and ongoing conservation, he said.
“We have logged a total of 713 volunteer man-hours so far, removing alien vegetation like Port Jackson, Paterson’s Curse and wild mustard, along with countless bags of litter,” Hope said. “Encouragingly, as the area is vacated by vagrants the amount of litter has decreased noticeably.”
He said regular clean-ups would be a feature as would expansion of fynbos planting efforts. “This space represents something beautiful, what is possible when a community comes together, guided by a shared vision and a love for nature.”
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