Like most things in and around Cape Town, we tend to take our biodiversity for granted.

We shouldn’t because the Cape Floral Kingdom, which is one of the globe’s six floral kingdoms, contains an incredible number of plant species, of which two-thirds are found nowhere else in the world.

Sadly, according to a new study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, and covered by GroundUp, we’re one of “the hot spots for plant extinction on the planet”:

Almost 40 plant species have gone extinct in the Western Cape since 1900…After Hawaii, where 79 species were lost, the Western Cape recorded the highest number of plant species lost, at 37…

“The Cape Flora has a very high density of species that occur nowhere else on Earth, so any impacts in the area have a very disproportionate impact on species,” explains Tony Rebelo, a scientist at the South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi).

Though the Cape floral kingdom accounts for only 0.6% of Africa’s land area and 6% of the land area of South Africa, one in five of Africa’s plant species and about half of South Africa’s occur here, he says…

These species are “the barometer of ecosystem health, and the high number of threatened species in the Littlest Kingdom on Earth, as the Cape Flora is known as, is a clarion call that we are heading for a serious environmental crisis,” he says.

Not quite as extinct as the Proteas’ World Cup chances, but not a good look.

Rebelo isn’t alone in sounding that clarion call warning, and the knock-on effects of the plants suffering can be seen throughout the ecosystem.

It’s the same with the whales that keep on dying in False Bay – everyone has a part to play.

According to Robbie Blackhall-Miles, a horticultural consultant specialising in proteas, species within the Cape’s ecosystem are particularly susceptible to any changes, which is part of the reason for the surge in extinctions:

The Western Cape is seeing waves of immigration of people seeking opportunities, and this rapid urbanisation is destroying large tracts of natural veld, as is farming. Climate change is altering weather patterns (including rainfall), while alien species are wreaking havoc on Cape ecosystems. “Just one or a combination of these can push a species that is unique to a particular place or environment right to the brink very easily and very quickly,” says Blackhall-Miles.

Rebelo warns that, despite the recent droughts when Cape Town’s taps almost ran dry, which have been in part attributed to alien plants guzzling the province’s water, “we are no longer on top of alien invasive species”. Alien species are proliferating faster than authorities can remove them or manage them, he says, “invading our catchments and reducing water yield and impacting on species.”

The doom and gloom above is rather disheartening, but there is something that we can do to help. Rebelo points to the involvement of concerned citizens as key to fighting back against ecosystem preservation and alien invasion.

His suggestions include the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa, for those interested in maintaining standards in reserves. If you’re more into finding, saving, and monitoring species, he points to the Custodians of Rare and Endangered Wildflowers.

CapeNature also has some handy information on managing alien vegetation.

To finish, here’s Rebelo with a plea of sorts:

“Become active in policing activities that impact on our natural veld: review Environmental Impact Assessments, register as interested and affected parties on developments that affect the natural areas near you, and campaign your local councillors for conservation action.”

South Africans need to assess the environment they want to live in, says Rebello. “A large part of the charm and attraction of the Cape is its biodiversity. Do we really want to live in a wasteland?”

Well, do we?

[source:groundup]