Page 19 - IFV Issue 5 May 2024

Nature

include the ability to limit localised air pollution, reduce surface
heating and thermal discomfort, aid in the survival of urban-
adapted wildlife, improve property values, and provide a sense
of place and personal identity for community members.
Despite this, forests and cities have generally not been
compatible. In Durban, natural historian Donal McCracken
relates how survivors of the shipwrecked Stavenisse in 1680
observed “dense forests with tall straight and thick trees… fit for
ship timber.” These forests fringed the early Port of Natal where
the village of Durban would develop. Flamingos, pelicans,
spoonbills, fish eagles and hippos lived in the steamy mangrove
swamps of Beechwood and Bayhead.
Richard Boon identified seven different forest types in Durban
including dune forest at the beach, mangrove forest at the bay Green Twin Spot, found in the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve.
Photo by Hugh Chittendon

and northern coastal forest that dominated the Berea and Bluff
ridges. He then developed an estimate of the extent of the total
historic forest in 1850 as 57 174 hectares, and the current extent
to be some 63% of the original forest, totalling 35 868 hectares.

Pigeon Valley Nature Reserve
Portions of the original Glenwood forest still remain within
Pigeon Valley Nature Reserve (PVNR), a ten hectare remnant of
coastal forest on Durban’s Berea. The original forest grew on the
eastern slopes of the Berea ridge, stretching from the Umbilo
River in the south to the Umgeni River in the north. The reserve
nestles just below Howard College, UKZN, and is flanked by
suburbia on each side. The reserve boasts a high level of local
biodiversity richness with a current bird list of some 152 species
and an indigenous tree list of 110 species. Red Duiker.
Vegetation at PVNR consists largely of what Boon describes Photo by Pieter Verheij
as northern coastal forest, a rich sub-tropical forest with species group that liaises with the city on the management of the
Purple crested Loerie, found in the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve.
Photo by Jacques de Speville including the Natal Elm (Celtis mildbraedii) and the Natal reserve.
Flower of the Natal Loquat. Photo by Chris Wahlberg Loquat (Oxyanthus pyriformis subsp. Pyriformis). The former
is endemic to the area and is a surviving relic from the original Virginia Bush
Stella or Glenwood Bush. The protection of this tree within the Virginia Bush Nature Reserve, situated approximately 15 km
reserve gives it national heritage status. A close relative of the from the centre of Durban across the Umgeni River is some
White stinkwood (Celtis africana) also found in the reserve, 49, 85ha in size. It was formally proclaimed a protected area
the Natal elm is characterised by its larger leathery leaves and in 2018, through the KwaZulu-Natal Gazette Notice No 1988
distinctive flaring buttress roots. The Natal loquat is a member of 23 August 2018 as part of the National Environmental
of the Coffee family (Rubiaceae) and forms an attractive garden Management: Protected Areas Act (NEM: PAA, Act No. 57 of
subject with its glossy green leaves and gardenia scented 2003). This was the fruit of collaboration between eThekwini
flowers. Municipality and Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife (EKZNW). The
The reserve was initially named after the Bronze-naped proclamation process also appointed eThekwini Municipality as
Delegorgue’s Pigeon, which was first collected here and the management authority.
described by Delegorgue in 1847. Robins are prolific in the This secondary regenerating forest is characterised
reserve and the Natal Robin may easily be spotted foraging in by pioneering species such as Flat Crown trees (Albizia
the leaf litter layer, while forest raptors include Black Kite, Black adianthifolia), Coastal Gold leaf (Bridelia micrantha) and
Sparrow Hawk, African Goshawk, and the Spotted Eagle Owl. Pigeonwood (Trema orientalis). Being part of the coastal
Red Duiker are resident in the reserve, troops of Vervet monkeys lowland forest, the reserve also has stands of Wild banana
feed in the forest and various local snakes have been spotted. (Strelitzia nicolai) and Silverleaf (Brachylaena discolour).
Pigeon Valley is frequented by members of the Natal Bird Club There are reportedly more than 170 species of plants within the
and the Friends of Pigeon Valley, a special community interest reserve.

The Villager • Issue 5 2024 • 17