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By: (marti) on
July 26, 2009
Tags:
Fynbos
,
Reserve
,
Palmiet
,
Biosphere
,
UNESCO
Just an hour out of Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa, lies an area of such natural beauty and floral diversity as to be recognized as perhaps world's greatest biodiversity hot-spot. Size for size, this 100 000 hectare UNESCO registered Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve is home to the most complex biodiversity on our planet!
The Kogelberg begins in the Atlantic Ocean, 7.5 km off a rugged, rocky shore of False Bay interspersed by glorious, golden sandy beaches. A zig-zag ribbon of narrow coastal plain is squeezed between the ocean and huge sandstone mountains. Contorted by their tumultuous birth some 300 million years ago, these awesome folded mountains and highland valleys are home to over 1880 different species of plants. 77 species within the Kogelberg Biosphere Reserve occur nowhere else on Earth. Many spectacular members of the protea family occur in the reserve. These include the endangered marsh rose, Orothamnus zeyheri, once on the brink of extinction and now known to occur on a few inaccessible peaks. Kogelberg has three patches of relic indigenous forest, Louwbos, Platbos and Oudebos. These patches are similar to the Knysna forests and includes yellowwood, stinkwood and boekenhout trees.
Kogelberg is often considered the heart of the Cape Floral Kingdom, because of the exceptional quality of its fynbos. The reserve lies within the southern stretch of the rugged Hottentots Holland mountain range and has remained isolated and remarkably unspoilt. Its high mountain peaks, steep kloofs, valleys and several tributaries of the pristine Palmiet River create a sense of remote wilderness.
The Kogelberg does not have many large animals. There are a few leopards; the Cape clawless otter may be seen in or near water; smaller antelope include klipspringer and grysbok; and baboons, dassies and hares are failry common. Peregrine falcons, black eagles and fish eagles hunt and nest in and around the reserve. An endemic freshwater crab and the endangered micro-frog are found in the area. A herd of wild horses roam the flats of the Bot River estuary at Rooisand.
For more information visit -
http://www.kogelbergbiospherereserve.co.za/
http://www.viewoverberg.com/Biosphere.asp
Date Taken: July 26, 2009
Date Added: August 15, 2009
Bookmarked: 1 time
Total Views: 934 views
Gear: Canon SD 880
Snapshots: 16
Size: 0.68 gigapixels
Field of View: 286.4 degrees wide, 62.1 degrees high
Stitcher Notes:
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