Hantam Botanical Garden

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Blooming Brunsvigien in the Hantam Botanical Garden

The Hantam Botanical Garden (HNBG; English Hantam National Botanical Garden ) near Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape Province is one of the state botanical gardens in South Africa , which are maintained by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) as research and educational institutions.

development

The history of the botanical garden has its roots in the Katlaracht farm , which was established by Scottish immigrants around 1883. The MacGregor family farmhouse group, built in 1929, has survived with minor changes. The building was designed by the Scottish architect John Lyon, the father-in-law of the farm owner Gordon MacGregor. In honor of the farmer's wife Helen Lyon and in memory of the Scottish family roots, the farm was renamed Glenlyon . Their son Neil married Neva Jankowitz from Germiston in 1968 . Both established sustained ecotourism on the farm by offering "flower tours" that attracted increasing numbers of domestic and international visitors. To do this, the farming family rented the only bus available in Nieuwoudtville. Finally, a three-year development program came about under the scientific direction of John Donaldson from Kirstenbosch . With this Conservation Farming Project knowledge arose about variants of a land use based on sustainability principles by farms taking into account a balance with the sensitive ecosystems on their area. In the meantime, the Glenlyon farm's eco-tours developed so successfully that a Bedford bus with 25 seats was purchased in 1991 . A little while later, the farm bought a larger 45-seat bus that had to be pulled by a tractor .

In 1991 there was contact with the BBC Natural History Unit in connection with the filming of The Private Life of Plants . In 1993 there was heavy rainfall here, which enabled the film team to stay on the farm for three and a half weeks due to the flourishing vegetation. David Attenborough returned with the film crew in January 1994 to shoot during the dry season. The growing awareness of the farm also led to a visit from the director of Kew Gardens, Sir Ghillean Prance . It also became a project goal for schools and universities beyond national borders.

Because the previous owner family no longer ran their farm, the Glenlyon farm was bought by the South African National Biodiversity Institute in October 2007 . The purchase was made with funds from several institutions, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), Conservation International (CI), the Global Conservation Fund (GCF) and with the help of the Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust through the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF , South Africa). The establishment of the botanical garden as a state institution was declared in 2008 by the responsible minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on the basis of an official notification in the national legal gazette.

Location and structure

The botanical garden is located southeast, near the town of Nieuwoudtville in the local parish of Hantam , after which it is named. The approximately 6,230 hectare facility has nine thematic routes that lead past plant locations with specific living conditions and soil types. The botanical garden extends at a height of about 730 meters above sea level in a landscape characterized by bizarre rock groups, otherwise flat undulating.

The three oldest buildings, which were built in the first half of the 20th century, are considered to be valuable, typical of the region, and examples of sophisticated stone carving. The new administration of the Hantam National Botanical Garden was established in the former residential building of the farm owners .

The area offers varied and colorful ground vegetation in three seasons, in spring, autumn and winter. Over 80 plant species are endemic and come from the Bokkeveld Plateau. In total, the territory of the botanical garden is home to more than 1350 species of plants. 150 species of birds can be found in the area. It is also home to some mammal species, such as the South African porcupine .

For the visitors, reference is made to the relationship between plant communities and the geological, especially the soil-scientific conditions. Dwyka - Tillite and the gray and yellow soils ( Vaalgrond ) resulting from their weathering products have contributed significantly to the development of the biome protected here . The vegetation community is traditionally referred to as Renosterveld , but has only survived fragmentarily in South Africa due to long-term agricultural land use. The dolerite rock bodies formed by igneous processes left behind individually visible rock deposits after exposure through weathering of cover layers, which have disintegrated into sometimes spectacular groups and scree fields through recent weathering processes .

  • Sparaxis pillansii

  • Brunsvigia bosmaniae

  • Gorteria diffusa

  • Nemesia fruticans

  • Romulea monadelpha

  • Nemesia cheiranthus

  • Bulbinella elegans

  • Sparaxis elegans

In the area of ​​the botanical garden there are two types of vegetation of the biome fynbos and one more: Nieuwoudtville Shale Renosterveld , Nieuwoudtville-Roggeveld Dolerite Renosterveld and Hantam Succulent Karoo . The biodiversity of the region is of global importance.

The drought that began in 2015 in eastern and southern Africa also had a strong impact on the habitat in the Hantam Botanical Garden. There was drought damage to soil plants and woody plants and the associated consequences for the affected animal world.

Transport infrastructure

The Hantam Botanical Garden can be reached via the national road R27 , from which a regional road branches off in Nieuwoudtville towards the course of the Oorlogskloof river. The city also has a small regional airfield ( Nieuwoudtville Airfield ).

Web links

Commons : Hantam National Botanical Garden  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c SANBI: Information . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  2. ↑ John Donaldson: Management for sustainable use - Conservation farming: evaluating the overall benefits of land use options for people and the environment . In: African Journal of Range and Forage Science, Vol. 20 (2003) No. 2 (Proceedings of the VII. International Rangeland Congress; July 26 - August 1, 2003, Durban, South Africa), pp. 194–196 ISSN 1022- 0119 ( Abstract, AJOL )
  3. ^ SANBI: History . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  4. ^ Republic of South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs: National Botanical Garden Expansion Strategy 2019-2030 . In: Department of Environmental Affairs Notice 607 of 2019, Government Gazette No. 42839 of November 15, 2019, pp. 20-21, online at www.cer.org.za (English)
  5. ^ Christopher K. Willis: A new National Botanical Garden for the Northern Cape: Nieuwoudtville National Botanical Garden . In: Veld & Flora, Vol. 93 (December 2007), Issue 4, pp. 228–229 ( Abstract, Sabinet)
  6. ^ A b Republic of South Africa: Government Notice 607 of 2019, Declaration of the Hantam National Botanical Garden in Terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) . In: Government Gazette No. 31694 of December 12, 2008, online at www.gov.za (English)
  7. ^ A b SANBI: Geology . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  8. ^ SANBI: Garden Office . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  9. ^ Jayson Orton, Heritage Impact Assessment for the Proposed New Facilities at Hantam National Botanical Garden, Nieuwoudtville, Calvinia Magisterial District, Northern Cape . ASHA Consulting, Muizenberg 2014, p. 13–17 (PDF document p. 17–21), online at www.sahris.sahra.org.za (English)
  10. ^ SANBI: Seasons . at www.sanbi.org (English)
  11. ↑ Colleen Rust: Brunsvigia bosmaniae FMLeight. In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  12. ↑ Moeketsi Samson Letsela, Yvonne Reynolds: Nemesia fruticans (Thunb.) Benth. In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  13. ↑ S .P. Bester, HM Steyn: Nemesia arenifera . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English), see the text below
  14. ↑ Stephen Boatwright, John Manning: Bulbinella . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  15. ↑ Brittany Arendse, Eugene Marinus: Sparaxis elegans (Sweet) Goldblatt . In: PlantzAfrica from the South African National Biodiversity Institute (English)
  16. ↑ Christopher Willis, Eugene Marinus, Colleen Rust: The Hantam National Botanical Garden: explore wild secrets under endless skies . In: Veld & Flora, Vol. 96 (June 2010), Issue 2, pp. 84–87 ( Abstract, Sabinet )
  17. ^ SANBI: Environmental Awareness . at www.sanbi.org (English)

Coordinates: 31 ° 24 ′ 0 ″  S , 19 ° 8 ′ 35.5 ″  E