New BotSoc plans for the future

GEORGE NEWS - About 50 people gathered at the Environmental Education Centre in the Garden Route Botanical Garden on Saturday to determine the way forward for the recently established Garden Route branch of the Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc). The BotSoc was formed in December by a small group of enthusiasts who started making plans straight away.

At the first annual general meeting on Saturday a committee was formally elected and voting took place on the envisaged projects.

The NPO, which operates through regional branches across the country, first arrived in the Garden Route in 1992. Members of this initial branch began a project to conserve the indigenous flora of the South Cape region, which is now the well-known independently run Garden Route Botanical Garden. The garden will again provide a home base for the local BotSoc branch, although the two NPOs will remain separate.

Projects
Jo-Anne King, chairperson of BotSoc Garden Route, told the George Herald that the society plans to roll out projects in the Garden Route Botanical Garden itself, as well as other parts of George and the Garden Route.

"Our main mission is to educate our fellow Garden Route residents about the amazing floral heritage of this area," she said. "We are custodians of the rich heritage of the Cape Floristic Region, the smallest of the six recognised floral kingdoms of the world. Ours is an area of extraordinarily high diversity and endemism, home to over 9 000 plant species, of which 69% are found nowhere else on earth. We are so lucky to live here, and the preservation of our precious corner of the Cape Floristic Region should be the priority of every Garden Route resident."

The new BotSoc commitee are, from left: Ruan Siebert, Finn Rautenbach, Jo-Anne King (chairperson), Priscilla Burgoyne and André Boshoff. Not present: Brittany Maclear and Pauline Cloete.

Coupled with botanical education, the new committee is eager to help tackle the control of invasive alien plants. "Invasive alien species are taking up the space that should be taken up by indigenous plants. Our local species are water-wise, pose a far lower fire risk and will feed a far greater diversity of animals. The plan is simple: take out the aliens, replace with what should have been there all along. The benefits are so obvious one wonders why its taking everyone so long to do it," said King.

Other plans for the year include monthly outings, talks and workshops led by knowledgeable local botanists, conservationists and environmentalists. For more info, the public can e-mail grbotsoc@gmail.com.

Attendees at the AGM spent some time chatting informally.