Publications
Partners
Cape Town – South Africa’s Cape Floral Regions, one of eight United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) Word Heritage sites in the country, has been extended.
Unesco approved the extension on Friday 3 July, during the 39th Session of the Unesco’s World Heritage Committee taking place in Bonn, Germany from 28 June to 08 July, 2015.
The Cape Floral Region was first inscribed onto the World Heritage List in 2004. At the time of inscription, the site was made up of 8 protected areas comprising about 553 000 hectares. The 8 protected areas are located in the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape provinces and are managed by the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, Cape Nature and the South African National Parks (SANParks).
The extension brings the size of the World Heritage Site to 1,094,742 hectares thus significantly increasing the size of South Africa’s protected areas with outstanding international recognition.
These include Table Mountain National Park, Agulhas Complex, Langeberg Complex, Anysberg Nature Reserve, Swartberg Complex, Baviaanskloof Complex and the Garden Route Complex. The extension also increases the number of protected area clusters making up the Cape Floral Region from 8 to 13.
South African World Heritage Sites with the other seven being:
• Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa
• iSimangaliso Wetland Park
• Robben Island
• Maloti-Drakensberg Park (Transboundary with Lesotho)
• Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape
• Vredefort Dome
• Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape
The extension also marks a new era in South Africa’s listing of World Heritage Sites.
The last time South Africa had a site inscribed on the World Heritage List was in 2007 with the inscription of the Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape. Since then the government has focused on managing its existing heritage sites, ensuring ways and means for it to improve the lives of South Africans.
READ: SA's World Heritage Sites to be spruced up
In accepting the approval of the extension, the Deputy Minister Barbara Thomson said: “South Africa is delighted to add more protected areas to its portfolio of world heritage properties. The country has in the last few years learned a few lessons in management of its world heritage sites and has through its engagement with the Committee and the Advisory Bodies achieved high standards of conservation to levels expected by UNESCO.”
READ: Kirstenbosch does SA proud again as International Garden of the Year
The extended Cape Floral Region is one of the richest areas for plants when compared to any similar sized area in the world. It represents less than 0.5% of the area of Africa but is home to nearly 20% of the continent’s flora with some 69% of the 9000 identified plant species being endemic to the area.
Please share your photos and travel experiences with us at info@traveller24.com or post them on our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram accounts - you could be featured on News24.
