Persistence is key – ask the fynbos.

Persistence is key. That counts for invasive alien clearing too.

Commitment to protecting a landscape becomes evident when walking through the veld and seeing the resilience of fynbos. 

Where clearing of invasive alien vegetation was done a decade ago at a conservation servitude site on Farm 215, with consistent effort to do follow-up clearing at least once a year, ample breathing space was given for fynbos to reclaim their place.

Jutting out from the landscape in which it was once almost suffocated by invasive alien plants, Elim conebush (Leucadendron elimense subsp. elimense) and Bredasdorp conebush or vleirosie (Leucadendron laxum) can now be seen in all their splendour. 

Both of these plants are listed as Endangered on the SANBI Red List of South African Plants, as they are threatened by habitat loss and degradation of fragmented remnants. It is also threatened by wild flower harvesting.

This incredible species is most prominent in Elim ferricrete fynbos. 

Having less than 5% of its distribution intact, Elim ferricrete fynbos has been classified as Critically Endangered due to the high threats this vegetation faces from invasive alien plant species, land transformation and poor fire regimes.

Even though it may seem to be a herculean task, clearing invasive alien vegetation becomes  manageable once you commit to it, bit-by-bit. 

Given the chance, the resilience of fynbos may surprise you.