Situated in the smallest and richest of the world’s six floral kingdoms, the city of Cape Town boasts a rich diversity of fauna and flora that is unique for such a small area. The Cape Floristic Region (the region in which the Cape Floral Kingdom occurs) has a high proportion of unique and endangered species, and as a result is considered a global biodiversity hot spot.

The City of Cape Town presents a difficult challenge for biodiversity conservation among cities within South Africa, and possibly globally, as the urban footprint coincides with many unique vegetation types and habitats. Of the 21 national vegetation types in South Africa that have been assigned the highest conservation status of Critically Endangered, ten occur within the city. Of these, three occur nowhere else but within the City's boundary. A further six threatened vegetation types occur in the city. The Cape Town lowlands (Cape Flats) is an area that to date has been under-conserved and has experienced massive urban sprawl dating from planning policies in the apartheid era. This area alone supports more than 1460 different plant species of which 203 species are threatened with extinction and five are globally extinct in the wild.

We need to conserve biodiversity, not only for its own sake and for future generations, but because intact natural habitats offer many benefits to humankind, including an improved quality of life and health through the many ecosystem goods and services they provide. Well-managed natural areas offer recreational and educational as well as sustainable harvesting and nature-based tourism opportunities, and are known to enhance adjacent property values. In Cape Town, tourism is one of the most important industries in promoting employment opportunities.

The Biodiversity Management Branch is responsible for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity within the City's boundary. A fundamental aspect to the branch’s work is to ensure that biodiversity and nature are mainstreamed into everyday life, which includes delivering tangible benefits to all communities.

More specifically, this branch is responsible for conservation planning, biodiversity management and alien species eradication. In the field of conservation planning, the City’s approved Biodiversity Strategy has resulted in the identification of a biodiversity network of sites (BioNet) that need to be secured to conserve a representative sample of the Cape Town’s unique biodiversity and, thus, promote sustainable development.

At present, the branch manages 24 nature reserves. These areas exclude Table Mountain National Park for example, which is managed by South African National Parks, and other provincial reserves such as Driftsands, a reserve on the Cape Flats.

Key functions of the branch include:

• Nature reserve management
• Biodiversity strategy co-ordination
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Protected area status
• Invasive alien species co-ordination
  

For further information, contact:

Ms Julia Wood (Manager)
Tel: +27 (0)21 514 4155
Fax: +27 (0)21 511 1951
E-mail: julia.wood@capetown.gov.za

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