GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - The Garden Route branch of the Botanical Society of South Africa (BotSoc) held its first AGM on Saturday 16 March, at the Garden Route Botanical Garden (GRBG) in George. 

BotSoc, which operates through regional branches across the country, first arrived in the Garden Route in 1992 but became inactive in the past few years.

Jo-Anne King, current chairperson of BotSoc Garden Route, says the society plans to roll out projects in partnership with the GRBG and other gardens and conservation projects in the Garden Route, such as Pledge Nature Reserve in Knysna.

"Our main mission is to inspire our fellow Garden Route residents to protect our amazing floral heritage. We are custodians of the Cape Floristic Region, the smallest of the six recognised floral kingdoms of the world. Ours is an area of extraordinarily high diversity, 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 should be the priority of every Garden Route resident," says King.

Tackling aliens
Coupled with botanical education, the new committee is eager to help tackle the control of non-indigenous plants. "Alien-invasive 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 we actually cannot afford to wait any longer to do it."

Other plans for the year include monthly outings, talks and workshops led by knowledgeable local botanists, conservationists and environmentalists. Due to the size of the Garden Route, the branch will operate via its "twigs", which are localised subgroups based in specific towns.

Find out more
For more info, and to join your local twig, the public can email grbotsoc@gmail.com. The Knysna Twig will be run by Helena Joubert, who can be contacted directly at nannajoubert@gmail.com. 

The new Garden Route BotSoc committee from left is Ruan Siebert, Finn Rautenbach, Jo-Anne King, Priscilla Burgoyne, Adre Boshoff (not present), Brittany Maclear and Pauline Cloete. Photo: Supplied

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