Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape
28 August 2007
Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, is
proud to announce the establishment of South Africa's ninth national botanical
garden on the outskirts of Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape, South Africa.
The new garden, to be established on the farm Glenlyon, comprises over 6 300
hectares (ha) of land on the Bokkeveld Plateau, and is world renowned for its
incredible diversity of bulbous plants. Some 40% of the flora comprises bulbs
that create spectacular displays in autumn and spring each year.
The garden also comprises large natural patches of renosterveld fynbos and
succulent karoo vegetation. Some 1 350 plant species have so far been recorded
on the Bokkeveld Plateau, including 80 range-restricted or endemic species (6%
of the flora). Almost a third of the species endemic to the Bokkeveld Plateau
are threatened with extinction. Due to the incredible diversity and density of
bulbs, Nieuwoudtville's biodiversity is of international significance and it is
often referred to as 'the bulb capital of the world.' "The new national
botanical garden in Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape will provide an
important conservation area which will be used by South African National
Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) to promote nature-based tourism, the
conservation of the area's unique biodiversity, environmental education
opportunities and long term ecological research in this botanical hotspot of
global significance," the Minister said.
The purchase of the farm Glenlyon was made possible through generous funding
provided by the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
(DEAT), Conservation International (CI) through the Global Conservation Fund
(GCF), and the Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust through the World Wide Fund
for Nature (WWF, South Africa).
The new Nieuwoudtville National Botanical Garden plans to be open to the
public in January 2008 and will serve as a centre for biodiversity research in
the Succulent Karoo region and Bokkeveld Plateau. Focus will be on promoting
long-term ecological research, conservation, nature-based tourism and education
relating to the region's biodiversity, working closely with local and regional
stakeholders, bioregional programmes, conservation agencies, universities and
museums. The official launch of the new national botanical garden took place on
the farm Glenlyon outside Nieuwoudtville on Tuesday, 28 August 2007.
Sanbi was established under the National Environmental Management:
Biodiversity Act, No 10 of 2004. Sanbi's mission is to promote the sustainable
use, conservation, appreciation and enjoyment of the exceptionally rich
biodiversity of South Africa, for the benefit of all people. The first national
botanical garden of the country, Kirstenbosch, was established in 1913 and
today Sanbi manages South Africa's network of eight national botanical gardens,
located across five provinces. The last national botanical garden established
was the Walter Sisulu NBG in Roodepoort/Mogale City, Gauteng, in 1982, 25 years
ago. Part of Sanbi's corporate strategic plan is to have at least one national
botanical garden located in all nine South African provinces. National
botanical gardens have been defined internationally as institutions holding
documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific
research, conservation, display and education.
Contact person:
Christopher Willis
Tel.: 012 843 5200
Fax: 012 843 5205
E-mail: willis@sanbi.org
Issued by: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism
28 August 2007
