One of the monthly events organised by the Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy is a Veld Plants Walk, led by members of the Botanical Society of South Africa.  The Conservancy is a rich mix of grasslands, savannah and bushveld, stretching over the hills, down ravines, up against the Schurveberg and straddling three rivers. 

  
The term “grassland” can be misleading.  It probably leads to ignorant perceptions such as that of a landowner in the Conservancy who scraped his property bare, ridding it of “just bossies”, as he called it. (He's sold and moved elsewhere – beware the poor bossies of his new abode.)

Surprisingly, of every six plants found in pristine South African grasslands only one is a grass. Grasslands are particularly species-rich and support dozens of species per hectare. This makes it an ideal habitat for a myriad bird, mammal, insect and reptile species.

Our "bossies" have attracted much attention lately.  Large stretches of it consists of Egoli Granite Grassland (EGG), endemic to Gauteng and almost completely wiped out across the province. 

Prof George Bredenkamp, who led a previous Veld Plants Walk in the Conservancy, was involved with the original identification and description of EGG in Gauteng. He says: “Human impacts on this sensitive ecosystem have resulted in an altered species composition, loss of many species, and a change from a species-rich grassland with high conservation value to a species-poor grassland with low conservation value. The conservation of the last remaining relicts of original Egoli Granite Grassland is essential.” 

One small area is safe, at least.  About 300 ha of EGG was bought in the Conservancy by a developer as an "offset" for EGG that was being destroyed in Midrand.  This piece is now the responsibility of the Gauteng Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (GDARD).  Rhenosterspruit has been chosen as one of seven pilot sites for the roll-out of Biodiversity Stewardship contracts with local landowners and if enough support is forthcoming from residents, the potential for a proclaimed Nature Reserve or Protected Environment starts emerging.  The core is there already - 300 ha of it. It just needs to grow.

Prof Bredenkamp warns that at least 61% of Egoli Granite Grassland has been permanently transformed: by urban development, smallholdings, by agriculture and by other impacts such as exotic plantations, mining and planted pastures.  "Another 17% of EGG is degraded due to overgrazing, pollutants, weeds and alien species. It is therefore highly likely that the national target for conservation of this grassland type, ie 25% of the total extent, will never be realised,” he says.

As the custodians of some of Gauteng's last remaining Egoli Granite Grassland we in the Conservancy clearly have a demanding task ahead of us.  But that's fine.  I agree with environmental activist, Paul Hawken, when he says:  "Don't be put off by the size of the challenge.  Do what needs to be done, don't be put off by people who tell you it is not possible.  And only after you've done it, check to see if it was indeed impossible."

Helen Duigan

www.rhenosterspruit.co.za. www.veldtalk.co.za.