Image: WWF / Avontuur Sustainable Agriculture / Noel Oettle
The Northern Cape has a new star in its constellation of natural wonders. The Avontuur Nature Reserve, a 1,300-hectare stretch of biodiversity, was officially declared a protected area on January 27.
Located just 15 km from Nieuwoudtville—the ‘Bulb Capital of the World’—the newly declared nature reserve is nestled within the fynbos and follower-dotted wild beauty of the Bokkeveld Plateau in the Northwest Cape.
Avontuur’s uniqueness begins with its geology. Spanning three major strata—Table Mountain Sandstone, Dwyka Tillite, and Dolerite—the reserve hosts a handful of distinct vegetation types: Bokkeveld Sandstone Fynbos, Nieuwoudtville Shale Renosterveld, and Nieuwoudtville-Roggeveld Dolerite Renosterveld.
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Image: avontuur.org.za
This amazing diversity supports 495 plant species, including three found nowhere else on Earth, like the elusive Felicia sp. Another gem, Aspalathus obliqua, unseen for over 160 years, was rediscovered here, securing the reserve’s status as a botanical gem in the already famous-for-its-flora region.
The land was purchased by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in 2008. As per WWF, much of the land was degraded then, due to overgrazing and uncontrolled ploughing of soils. In fynbos areas, invasive alien plants threatened 800 hectares of otherwise pristine fynbos where some of the most fragile and unique plant species were found.
Under the ownership of the WWF, Avontuur Sustainable Agriculture took on the management of the land, with restoration and rehabilitation of the newly-declared reserve as a key focus.
Image: avontuur.org.za
Today, 810 hectares of undisturbed vegetation thrive alongside 600 hectares of previously cultivated recovering land. Alien plants have been curbed and the landscape is tipping back toward ecological balance.
Avontuur Nature Reserve anchors a vital network of protected zones across the Bokkeveld Plateau by preserving critical wetlands that sustain the Grasberg River—the primary source of the Nieuwoudtville Waterfall, a major tourist draw.
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