Biodiversity

Sustaining life in an age of extinction

"Biological diversity" means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Convention on Biological Biodiversity | Article 2 Use of Terms

The Cape Floral Kingdom

Six floristic regions, each distinguished by its plant life, span the globe. These floristic regions are also known as floristic kingdoms or floral kingdoms. By far the smallest, the Cape Floral Kingdom is, arguably, the richest.

Home to a unique plant life dissimilar to anywhere else, it also contains one of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots, the Cape Floristic Region. A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region containing a significant reservoir of biodiversity threatened with destruction.

A high diversity and endemism of vascular plants and invertebrates mark the Cape Floristic Region. It contains around 9 500 species of plants, of which 70% do not grow elsewhere (endemics). As the world’s “hottest hotspot”, it is globally significant because only 9% is formally protected.

The Cape Floristic Region is also:

• a centre of plant diversity (Davis et al, 1994)
• an endemic bird area (Stattersfield et al, 1998)
• a Global 200 Ecoregion (Olson and Dinerstein, 1998)
• a centre of diversity and endemism for mammals (Brooks et al, 2001; Kerley et al, 2003), other vertebrates (freshwater fish, amphibia and reptiles) (Branch, 1988; Skelton et al., 1995; Impson et al., 1999; Brooks et al., 2001), and many invertebrate groups (Stuckenberg, 1962; Picker and Samways, 1996), and…
• home to 1406 Red Data Book plant species (one of the highest concentrations of such species in the world) (Cowling and Hilton-Taylor, 1994)

South Africa has the highest documented number of extinct plant species of any country in the world. Thirty-nine species are extinct and a further 64 are believed to be extinct as they have not been seen for over 50 years and very little of their habitat remains.

Plants in Peril | CREW 2013

Biodiversity at Tokai Park

South Africa is a signatory to the Rio Conventions and Aichi Targets, international agreements that seek to improve the conservation of biodiversity through the restoration and protection of nature. The Aichi Targets propose to conserve a minimum of 17% of each vegetation type for future generations (Target 11) and prevent threatened species going extinct (Target 12).

Cape Town is unique. No other place on Earth outside the tropics supports such biodiversity. Moreover, few cities on Earth are home to 150 plant species threatened with extinction, let alone of a single vegetation type.

Tokai Park contains four distinct vegetation types: Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, Peninsula Granite Fynbos, Sandstone Fynbos and some small Afromontane Forest Patches. The first two of these vegetation types are classified as critically endangered. Afromontane Forest is of least concern, with 93% conserved and 100% intact.

Tokai Park comprises a large proportion of the area of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos and Peninsula Granite Fynbos that can be conserved. This makes it a critically important conservation area. Given its surrounds and the existential threats posed to biodiversity by anthropogenic development, degradation and habitat loss, defining it as one of Earth’s quintessential biodiversity hotspots is no overstatement.

With the Aichi Targets aiming to conserve a minimum of 17% of each vegetation type in perpetuity, only 11% of the area of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos remains, but less than 2% is in good condition and only 1% is conserved. For Peninsula Granite Fynbos, the situation is only slightly better, with 30% conserved and 43% remaining.

Following the clearing of the MTO pine plantations at Tokai Park, more than 550 Fynbos species have been recorded at Lower Tokai Park. However, 147 species are threatened with extinction, some 36 of them being designated as such over the past decade. Several are already extinct.

In the wake of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos’s spectacular recovery at Tokai Park, wildlife such as Cape Fox, Porcupine, Caracal and wild bees are now recorded here. More animals are expected to move in as restoration continues and matures. We expect about 500 plant species to reestablish themselves naturally – based on an historical Bergvliet study.

These maps illustrate the natural habitats of Fynbos types within the City of Cape Town's boundaries. They remained largely intact until returning servicemen, migration and economic growth saw the city expand rapidly after WWII. Today, large swathes of three Fynbos types, Cape Flats Sand Fynbos (CFSF) and Peninsula Granite Fynbos (PGF), have all but disappeared. In the case of CFSF, less than one percent is currently protected.

"We are obliged, and should, conserve the Cape flora, because (a) it is one of our heritages, (b) it attracts large numbers of tourists, is part of the “package” of wine, scenery and sunshine, (c) as a country we signed the Rio Convention, which places the responsibility to conserve our diversity with us."

Professor H Peter Linder Institute of Systematic Botany University of Zurich

Read Letter

Click, download and share our Cape Flats Sand Fynbos infographic (PDF)

Species at Lower Tokai Park

Lower Tokai Park covers just over 100ha but has over 700 species of plants and approximately 550 species of indigenous plant.

By comparison, Augrabies Falls National Park is home to approximately 70 species of grass, shrubs, herbs and trees. A list of 625 plant species has been compiled for the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (Management Plan: p19), 680 plant species are listed in the Mountain Zebra National Park (Management Plan p18), 780 in the Tankwa Karoo National Park (Management Plan p14) and more than 600 species can be found in the Bontebok National Park (Management Plan p13).

Although comparisons like this are odious, they do highlight the significance of Lower Tokai Park’s Cape Flats Sand Fynbos compared to other National Parks with many vegetation types.

Note: Only one of these Parks mentions Red List Plant species in its Management Plan. The Bontebok National Park lists 1 Critically Endangered, 9 Endangered and 7 Vulnerable species.

By comparison, the Lower Tokai Park section of Table Mountain National Park lists 2 species as Extinct in the wild, 9 species as Critically Endangered, 4 as Endangered and 12 as Vulnerable (Purcell‘s list for Bergvliet: X 2; CR 7; EN 6; VU 14; NT 5).