Mowed down

Rosmead Primary learners plant serrurias in the Cape Flats Sand Fynbos restoration site. These plants were mowed down by an unsupervised city contractor a year later.

  The Princess Vlei Forum wishes to express our deep dismay at the destruction of yet another
sensitive restoration site by an unsupervised contractor.
On Tuesday 3 February, a mowing contractor drove over one of our restoration sites situated
on the northern shore, nearby Briana Crescent. Several hundred plants were destroyed.

The 1500m2 restoration site was established in 2023 to actively rehabilitate Cape Flats Sand Fynbos.
One hundred litres of seed, including Protea scolymocephala, Protea Rebens, and mix of annuals
were planted, and many of these had sprouted. Seedlings and rescued plants from areas
scheduled for clearing were also planted. The restored plant community included ephemeral,
geophytic and threatened Redlist species. One of the threatened flagship species that was
introduced to the area was the Rondevlei Spiderhead (Serruria foeniculacea).  More plants were put in by learners the following year. All plants in the site have been destroyed
      The Forum has invested thousands of rands in clearing this area of alien growth, and
planting out species to restore Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, critically endangered because of loss of
habitat throughout the Cape Flats. The northern shore of Princess Vlei offers a rare opportunity to
establish populations of this endangered vegetation and associated faunal species.
This follows two other incidents where restoration sites have been destroyed by unsupervised contractors ( see  Ripped up ....!  to read about these incidents).
      Under Recreation and Parks,  mowing operations have decimated critically endangered Cape Flats Sand Fynbos, despite efforts to make GPVCA and other areas no mow zones. Some residents pressure officials to mow because long grass is perceived to be untidy, so public awareness of the value of biodiversity is important. While adjustments to the mowing schedule have enabled the seeding of some wild flowers such as rain daisies, our restoration projects remain threatened due to unsupervised contractors, as this incident shows.
     We wrote to the mayor in February to express our concerns, but so far have had no response to our letter. City officials however have undertaken to replace the destroyed plants. This will only happen in 2026 as the plants have to grown especially. This puts our restoration site four years behind schedule.
     We believe incidents such as this will continue to happen until the GPVCA is under proper management under the Biodiversity Management Branch, and will continue to lobby for this.

• To read more about this restoration site, see Thirty young eco-guardians, a million seeds, and a little rain 

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