Gavin W. Maneveldt
DEPARTMENT OF BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION BIOLOGY,
UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE
A
s a consequence of its
unique geographical
location, South Africa
boasts an astonishingly
high biodiversity. After Indonesia
and Brazil, South Africa is the thirdmost biologically diverse country in
the world. Occupying less than 1%
(1,214,470 km2) of the world’s total
terrestrial land area (148,940,000
km2), South Africa is home to an
astonishing diversity of organisms
including: 10% of the world’s plants
(roughly 24 000 indigenous plant
species); 5% of the world’s reptiles;
8% of the world’s birds; 6% of the
world’s mammals; 16% of the
known coastal marine species; and
an astonishing 33% of the world’s
tortoise species. We are the only
country in the world that encompasses three biodiversity hotspots
(of which there are 34 across the
planet), one (the Cape Floristic Re-
gion or Cape Floral Kingdom) of
which falls entirely within our political borders that also happens to be
the smallest of the six recognised
plant kingdoms.
The Western Cape Province is
particularly special
Occupying roughly 11% (10.66%,
129,462 km2) of South Africa’s land
area, the Western Cape is home to
more than half (e.g. 56% of all
plants, 51% of all birds, 51% of all
mammals, 65% of all fish) of the
country’s biodiversity. Within the
Western Cape, the Cape Floral Kingdom is unrivalled in its existence.
On a per area basis, the Cape Floral
Kingdom has the highest concentration of plant species in the world.
This floral kingdom is deemed one
of the “hottest hotspots” for conservation in the world largely because the threatened status of its
Biodiversity being mowed down.
plants (over 1700 species of plants
in the Western Cape are currently
threatened with extinction; this
equates to 68% of South Africa’s
threatened plant species), animals,
ecosystems and landscapes is at
levels that require intervention in
order to sustain it into the future.
What worsens the situation, is that
the variety of landscapes in the
Western Cape are unique, including
a large percentage of endemic
plants (roughly 70% of plants are
endemic) and animals that cannot
be found elsewhere in the world.
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) requires of all its signatories (South Africa ratified the CBD in
November of 1995) to provide formal protection of its land and seascapes and has set protected area
targets of 10% for terrestrial surfaces and 20% for coastlines. South
A different management practice inside this hospital
grounds has resulted in a very noticeable difference in
the densities of wildflowers inside and outside the
grounds.