Would you be willing/able to respond to comments made by Alex ... on the front page of 25 June's Bulletin? ".... the Constantia greenbelts are 'ecological deserts'. Few species, he said, could live in them because of poor habitat conditions."
The report visited the rehab garden near the Alphen. The article links the project to Colin Walker and Friends of CVGB.
The problem with urban open spaces is that the city refuses to burn them, and as a conseque:nce they cannot support Fynbos. They degenerate into poor-quality Strandveld or Forest (neiher of which are nearly as threatened vegetation types).
Without fire, these cannot be considered Fynbos. Being narrow and surrounded by very expensive houses, fire is out of the question. They are thus gardens.
Yes, lots of people are making great efforts to help with conservation, but they are still gardens. They also tend to be the hardy, tough, common species, rather than the Critically Endangered and Endangered species that need lots of attention (although there are very important exceptions). A bigger problem is that they are maintained as gardens, with plants pulled out because the look scraggly or untidy or other odd reasons - including the whims of the supervisor and gardeners. They all get makeovers from time to time, without any consulting as to which species should be retained or not reintroduced. And there is unfortunately a tendency to remove all the ground covers and maintain a bare soil look, because it looks "less unkempt". And their future hangs perilously close to public perceptions: one mugging, or rape or murder, and the bushcutters will come in and remove everything to grassy meadows, and it will be years before we can re-establish any threatened species..
So whereas we need to support the initiatives, and the superb job they are doing with educating, entertaining, informing and empowering the local communities, and also of conserving a few species, and of beautifying, invigorating and preserving our urban landscapes, in terms of conserving the natural communities that used to occur at Constantia they are of little consequence and the public should not be mislead into believing that they do. Even the conservation areas like Die Hel perform exceedingly poorly and without fire and with alien pines and oaks they are useless for conserving the Granite Fynbos that used to occur there. e.g. when was the last time that a Knysna Warbler was seen here? - this species lives in the Fynbos-Forest interface? Where are the Silvertrees?
So this is a complex and nuanced situation. As Green Spaces go, the initiatives are superb and must be supported at all levels. But from a conservation perspective of threatened species and ecosystems they are "useless deserts" in that they contain almost none of the hundreds of species that used to occur here. So it is a matter of branding and getting out the right messages to the right audiences, and encouraging everyone to do their bit. The emphasis in the green belts should on environmental health: water control, green lungs, beautiful landscapes, the beautiful local, waterwise, insect- and bird- attractor plants, with seasonally changing landscapes, pollinator reserves, wildlife corridors, and soul-finding experiences. Alien invasive species should all be removed, and this includes the alien Tree Ferns (we have our own species and should rather plant this: but it likes deep shade, unlike the Australian one that can cope with sun).
What we need to do more of is use the the green belts to stock threatened species, such as Silvertrees, and other species that used to be common in Constantia and are now threatened - but these will be as "gene banks" and gardens: not natural ecosystems - as gardens and novel urban ecosystems. Something like Caitlin has done with the Grootboskloof River Mandala, but with more really threatened species. But unfortunately, most cannot tolerate "gardening" or root disturbance, or pruning. Caitlin's examples are mostly hardy species suitable for gardens: which is cool an worth promoting!!.
Constantia Green Belts provide a superb opportunity to showcase how the urban environment can assist with conservation, even when they cannot ever approach natural ecosystems in ecology. They should and can contribute to the ecological, recreational and spiritual wealth of the communities around them.
Comments
Ques (Anon):
Would you be willing/able to respond to comments made by Alex ... on the front page of 25 June's Bulletin? ".... the Constantia greenbelts are 'ecological deserts'. Few species, he said, could live in them because of poor habitat conditions."
The report visited the rehab garden near the Alphen. The article links the project to Colin Walker and Friends of CVGB.
Ans
The problem with urban open spaces is that the city refuses to burn them, and as a conseque:nce they cannot support Fynbos. They degenerate into poor-quality Strandveld or Forest (neiher of which are nearly as threatened vegetation types).
Without fire, these cannot be considered Fynbos. Being narrow and surrounded by very expensive houses, fire is out of the question. They are thus gardens.
Yes, lots of people are making great efforts to help with conservation, but they are still gardens. They also tend to be the hardy, tough, common species, rather than the Critically Endangered and Endangered species that need lots of attention (although there are very important exceptions). A bigger problem is that they are maintained as gardens, with plants pulled out because the look scraggly or untidy or other odd reasons - including the whims of the supervisor and gardeners. They all get makeovers from time to time, without any consulting as to which species should be retained or not reintroduced. And there is unfortunately a tendency to remove all the ground covers and maintain a bare soil look, because it looks "less unkempt". And their future hangs perilously close to public perceptions: one mugging, or rape or murder, and the bushcutters will come in and remove everything to grassy meadows, and it will be years before we can re-establish any threatened species..
So whereas we need to support the initiatives, and the superb job they are doing with educating, entertaining, informing and empowering the local communities, and also of conserving a few species, and of beautifying, invigorating and preserving our urban landscapes, in terms of conserving the natural communities that used to occur at Constantia they are of little consequence and the public should not be mislead into believing that they do. Even the conservation areas like Die Hel perform exceedingly poorly and without fire and with alien pines and oaks they are useless for conserving the Granite Fynbos that used to occur there. e.g. when was the last time that a Knysna Warbler was seen here? - this species lives in the Fynbos-Forest interface? Where are the Silvertrees?
So this is a complex and nuanced situation. As Green Spaces go, the initiatives are superb and must be supported at all levels. But from a conservation perspective of threatened species and ecosystems they are "useless deserts" in that they contain almost none of the hundreds of species that used to occur here. So it is a matter of branding and getting out the right messages to the right audiences, and encouraging everyone to do their bit. The emphasis in the green belts should on environmental health: water control, green lungs, beautiful landscapes, the beautiful local, waterwise, insect- and bird- attractor plants, with seasonally changing landscapes, pollinator reserves, wildlife corridors, and soul-finding experiences. Alien invasive species should all be removed, and this includes the alien Tree Ferns (we have our own species and should rather plant this: but it likes deep shade, unlike the Australian one that can cope with sun).
What we need to do more of is use the the green belts to stock threatened species, such as Silvertrees, and other species that used to be common in Constantia and are now threatened - but these will be as "gene banks" and gardens: not natural ecosystems - as gardens and novel urban ecosystems. Something like Caitlin has done with the Grootboskloof River Mandala, but with more really threatened species. But unfortunately, most cannot tolerate "gardening" or root disturbance, or pruning. Caitlin's examples are mostly hardy species suitable for gardens: which is cool an worth promoting!!.
Constantia Green Belts provide a superb opportunity to showcase how the urban environment can assist with conservation, even when they cannot ever approach natural ecosystems in ecology. They should and can contribute to the ecological, recreational and spiritual wealth of the communities around them.
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