Harmony Flats Nature Reserve

Harmony Flats Nature Reserve

Critically endangered Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos growing at Harmony Flats
Map showing the location of Harmony Flats Nature Reserve

Map of Cape Town

Location Cape Town, South Africa
Coordinates 34°08′18″S 18°51′33″E / 34.13833°S 18.85917°E / -34.13833; 18.85917Coordinates: 34°08′18″S 18°51′33″E / 34.13833°S 18.85917°E / -34.13833; 18.85917
Area 9 ha (22 acres)
Harmony Flats is managed by local volunteers and community organisers

Harmony Flats Nature Reserve is a 9-hectare (22-acre) piece of protected land, located between Strand and Gordon's Bay, South Africa. It protects a surviving fragment of critically endangered “Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos” vegetation.[1]

Harmony Flats was originally established to preserve a habitat for the rare and declining Geometric Tortoise (Psammobates geometricus). This tortoise is now unfortunately locally extinct, but the reserve still protects about 220 species of plant (many of them endangered)[2] as well as a range of animal species, such as the tiny Parrot-beaked tortoise (Homopus areolatus), various snakes and a large variety of birds. This is one of the few remaining spots of the critically endangered vegetation type “Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos”. Local volunteers and community organisations are now heavily involved in protecting and managing the reserve.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "City of Cape Town Nature Reserves. Free Booklet" (PDF).
  2. ↑ "Flora of the Western Cape".
  3. ↑ "Environmental resources and downloads. City of Cape Town. Environmental Resource Management Dept".
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