the richtersveld cultural and botanical landscape - SAHRA

Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site Nomination 78
and worthless. Social pressures, the lure of better lives in cities, poverty and the
impact of modern forms of architecture and livelihoods such as diamond mining on
the use of the |haru oms and on pastoralism continue to pose threats to the
traditional Nama way of life.
Natural criterion (ix)
The richness and uniqueness of the Richtersveld Community Conservancy’s flora is
a result of a number of environmental factors coming together to create a unique
and dynamic environment. Cold fog deposits from the Atlantic, an arid environment,
varied topography and temperature fluctuations have resulted in biodiversity that
has had to evolve specifically to survive in such an unusual and extreme
environment. Flora, in particular, have radiated into a wide variety of species and
families adapted to exist in highly specific microenvironments, some occurring only
on certain mountaintops or quartz fields. The methods used by plants for
conserving water, shielding from the sun and protecting themselves from high
winds are seen in the morphology, physiology, distribution ranges and the
relationships between particular species and their specific microenvironment. In
some species such as the Aloe dichotoma the population densities differ between
summer and winter rainfall zones. The Conservancy exists in the transition between
these two rainfall zones and as such is a living laboratory of the Aloe dichotoma, as
well as the Aloe pillansii, a near endemic to the Conservancy, and many other
species.
Natural criterion (x)
The Succulent Karoo Region is one of the world’s 34 Biodiversity Hotspots. This is
based on the extraordinary diversity and endemism rates in the biome which is
home to an estimated 6,356 species of plants of which 2,439 are endemic. A 38.4%
endemism rate is one of the highest in the world, and the highest of any desert.
40% of the world’s 10,000 species of succulents are found in the Succulent Karoo.
The Succulent Karoo has an exceptionally large species to genus ratio, especially
for an arid region. Over 63 genera of the Mesembryanthemaceae are endemic to
the Succulent Karoo Region, a very high number for a floral region of its size. Of the