Mzanzitravel Magazine

Our regular feature in which we visit some unique, hiddenaway
and off-the-beaten-track places and experiences you
probably didn’t know existed…but which are truly worth a visit.
By Stef Terblanche
Flower Valley Farm … a fynbos
paradise conserved for the future
The story of Flower Valley Farm and the Flower Valley Conservation Trust is
one that fills one with optimism that humans can undo the damage done to our
planet. Situated along a beautiful stretch of mountainous coast near Gansbaai
in the Western Cape, just over an hour’s drive from Cape Town, the project is a
showcase for flourishing fynbos and well-functioning ecosystems, the way this
part of the world was before humans came along. You can also stay on these
farms, learn about conservation and go on awesome hikes, and contribute to
restoring and saving our environment at the same time.
The 540-hectare Flower Valley Farm, is home to many critically endangered
lowland fynbos species and has been cleared of all invasive alien plants. The
Flower Valley Conservation Trust, based on the farm, works to secure oftenthreatened
fynbos landscapes, and protect the animals whose lives depend on
fynbos. Fynbos serves as the hiding place of many animals whose existence
depends on this. Sadly, many fynbos species have already been lost, and more
than 1,000 are endangered.
Fynbos is the main vegetation type of the Cape Floral Kingdom – the smallest
and richest of only six floral kingdoms in the world. About 75% of fynbos species
are endemic to their area and grow nowhere else in the world. The trust and the
farm work tirelessly to care for and protect various endangered animals. These
include the Cape leopard, a shy fellow whose numbers have been dramatically
reduced over the years, and who needs a well-functioning ecosystem to survive,
as well as ‘corridors’ of the right habitat to travel through to reach other leopards,
in order to breed.
Another endangered local resident is the padloper (road walker) tortoise, a tiny
creature usually no bigger than 10cm. Sightings of these have become quite rare.
The padloper lives in the Fynbos Biome, but is particularly susceptible to wildfires,
from which it has no escape and has partially been much of the cause of their
demise. And while natural periodic wild fires are part of the restorative cycle of
16 |ISSUE 8|www.mzanzitravel.co.za | MZANZI TRAVEL