Harmony Flats Nature Reserve

Harmony Flats Nature Reserve is a 9-hectare (22-acre) piece of protected land, located between Strand and Gordon's Bay, South Africa. It protects a surviving fragment of critically endangered Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos vegetation.[1]

Harmony Flats Nature Reserve
Critically endangered Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos growing at Harmony Flats
Map
Location of Harmony Flats Nature Reserve
LocationStrand, South Africa
Coordinates34°08′18″S 18°51′33″E / 34.13833°S 18.85917°E / -34.13833; 18.85917
Area9 ha (22 acres)
Established7 July 1989; 35 years ago (1989-07-07)
City of Cape - Harmony Flats Nature Reserve
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve is located in Western Cape
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve
Harmony Flats Nature Reserve (Western Cape)
Harmony Flats is managed by local volunteers and community organisers

Harmony Flats was originally established to preserve a habitat for the rare and declining geometric tortoise (Psammobates geometricus). This tortoise is now locally extinct, but the reserve still protects about 220 species of plants (many of them endangered)[2] as well as a range of animal species, such as the tiny parrot-beaked tortoise (Homopus areolatus), various snakes and a large variety of birds. This is one of the few remaining spots of the critically endangered vegetation type Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos. Local volunteers and community organisations are now heavily involved in protecting and managing the reserve.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "City of Cape Town Nature Reserves. Free Booklet" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-22.
  2. ^ "Flora of the Western Cape".
  3. ^ "Environmental resources and downloads. City of Cape Town. Environmental Resource Management Dept". Archived from the original on 2012-12-23.