Hello and welcome to a new ReWild initiative and our second episode of Know Your Nature! A free ReWild Africa newsletter released every Sunday exploring the National Parks of South Africa (and beyond). Know Your Nature aims to showcase off-the-beaten-track parts of Africa, and to encourage the support of our natural heritage. #PreservationBeforeRestoration
Agulhas National Park 🌊
Standing as the southernmost tip of Africa - Agulhas officially marks the uniting of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. This nutrient rich water is home an iconic fish bank known as the Agulhas Bank, and Southern right whales pass along here in the summer. Along the shore of this national park you will find white sand beaches and rocky outcrops which have seen a history of shipwrecks. A lone lighthouse marks Agulhas to the ships sailing around Africa.
🌵 The role of Agulhas in conserving South Africa’s flora and fauna
Although this is one of the smallest national parks in South Africa, it boasts 2,000 native plant species - to put that in perspective - Great Britain has 1,625 native plant species; 2,656 for Germany; and the Netherlands have about 1,460 species. Nearby is the Agulhas lighthouse, the second-oldest lighthouse in South Africa, which also includes a small museum and tearoom.
🦅 Uniqueness of Agulhas
With a wetland that provides refuge to birds and amphibians, Agulhas National Park is home to hundreds of indigenous fynbos species, Southern right whales, the African black oystercatcher, Damara tern and the Cape platanna. What sets Agulhas apart is its legendary 'Cape of Storms' that sooth the soul when you have a wood fire crackling and the sounds of the waves crashing in the distance. Further to this, the
cultural heritage of the park is significant, with discoveries of stone hearths, pottery, shell middens and ancient fish traps comprising some of the cultural relics - linked to Khoisan migration and settlements of the Late Stone Age.
🔭 Conservation Initiatives happening in the Park
The Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative (ABI) is one of several landscape initiatives in the Cape Floral Region. It integrated and coordinates efforts to minimise the further loss of threatened natural habitats on the Agulhas Plain, but the project was closed in 2019.
The Agulhas Plain has very high beta diversity (spatial turnover in species) and the most pronounced soil-controlled (edaphic) endemism in the world with species richness values equal to those of tropical rain forests.
It’s a beautiful initiative created by a number of partners who have agreed to work together, pool their resources and collaborate to conserve the biodiversity and ecosystems on the Agulhas Plain. Through their efforts they plan to ensure that the benefits flow to the local economy through activities such as responsible nature-based tourism and the sustainable harvesting of the natural veld.
Currently they’ve developing a #GreenEconomy in the Overberg through two projects:
A mobile plant (run by Ekasi Energy), that converts the waste of alien biomass into wood pellets.
An export firewood initiative, which is piloting an export of 16 tons of Eucalyptus and Black Wattle firewood has been shipped to the UK.
☀️ When to visit
A picturesque 3 hour drive from Cape Town, through the Overberg region. Agulhas is an all year round travel destination. November through to January is whale watching season, and winter has some incredibly calm days that are lit with spectacular sunrise and sunsets. The Agulhas Rest Camp is rated very highly too.
👩🏻🎨 My Relationship with the Park
My Mother, Nicola Carolyn Chevallier built a home within the park when I was around 5 years old. My memories coming up as a young boy are all filled with happiness. My siblings and I would be outside most of the time, playing in the dunes or looking for Klipvis in the rock pools. There is a beautiful lagoon there too, which made for a perfect cricket pitch in the the low tide where we would dream of being the next Jaque Kallis under a beautiful setting sun on the Southern Tip of Africa.
I was extremely privileged to experience this wildness at such a young age, and I am grateful for the opportunity that my mom and dad gave us. I believe that this influence has deeply impacted who I am today, and how I understand what wildness really is .
Unfortunately, my mother got cancer when I was 8 years old, and subsequently passed away in 2001. This home became a refuge for my mother during this difficult time. With all the pressure on my father, we had to sell the house.
I never came back to the house until ReWild Africa came to film it when we were travelling on the Google Trekker Job in 2016, where the above film was made. I have now been back a few times to reconnect with this landscape and my mother. It's so great to have this way to connect with her.
From an ecological perspective, it was incredible to see the change in the landscape from when the house was built (it was not within the national park, this area only became under South African National Parks as seen above in 2003). The dunes were restored with a lot more vegetation, and the grip of the strangling alien plant (Dodder Weed) was all removed. I remember thinking how suffocating that must have been for plants. The image above shows the land acquired since 1998 - such incredible and inspiring work.
I really encourage people to experience and explore this incredible park and all it has to offer, and if you are ever interested in staying in my moms home, please check this accommodation link.
A big thank you to Drive South Africa, SAN Parks and SA Tourism for making this project a reality.
Watch on and wild regards
Elvi the Elephant
#PreservationBeforeRestoration