On the 1st February the Great Brak River Conservancy assisted Cape Nature in hosting the 37th Garden Route Conservancy forum in Great Brak River. The Garden Route Conservancy forum allows all the local Conservancies and Cape Nature to come together and share in successes, give feedback on projects and highlight concerns.
There were representatives from as far as Plett’s Crags and Dana Bay. Each with their own unique approach and set of hiccups. Conservancies were given the floor to give a short presentation and time to answer questions.
At the end of the day the three common threads were blatantly obvious:
1.) No matter where we are along the Garden Route we are all losing our unique vegetation types at an alarming rate due to a multitude of reasons. May it be excessive linear development of our coast line, the knock on effects of alien invasive plants or the lack of restoration of indigenous plant types, something has to be done.
2.) We all need to do more to collectively eliminate alien invasive species as the threat they pose to us and the environment is multifaceted. The problem is a lot greater than just fires.
3.) All Conservancies need more hands-on involvement and participation.
Great Brak River is home to a number of unique vegetation types including our very own Groot Brak Duine Strandveld. Our name sake vegetation type along with our resident Blue Duiker population are sadly critically endangered. To date there are no statutory conservation areas within Great Brak River that could ensure the long-term protection of either. We have a lot to think about and change if we are to keep the things that make us unique and special.
If you would like to be part of the solution when it comes to Conservation efforts why not join your local Conservancy. To contact the Great Brak River Conservancy please contact Scott Thomson at 0446203449.
(Photo caption: A rare glimpse of a resident Blue Duiker that was captured by the Great Brak River Conservancies camera trap last month! The last sighting was March 2018.)
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