Page 15 - Landscape SA 97

FEATURE

The archaeological ruins of homesteads belonging to the Sotho-
Leslie Hoy of Rand Water’s EMS division, and senior horticulturist Tswana people. The stone-walled settlements date back to the Late
Rudzani Mulea Iron Age

Vegetation and wildlife manage- • the management plan recommended around the tree to protect the roots
ment plan that some roads in the reserve be closed from compaction;
as they divide the area and this affects • prior to Covid 19 and the lockdown,
To enable the compilation of this plan, an grazing; Rand Water hosted many schools on the
ecological evaluation of the natural areas • watering holes for game are opened nature reserve for educational purposes;
was necessary. Classification and mapping only seasonally and only one at a time. • the site is protected from fires by means
of the vegetation of an area forms the This is done to ensure that the animals of annual firebreaks and portions of
basis of sound land-use planning and move around regularly; the site are also burnt annually on
management. A thorough inventory of • the nature area contains a lot of a rotational basis to manage veld
plant communities and their associated medicinal plants; conditions;
habitats (= ecosystems) was done in order • the site also boasts a large Olea • as part of site management, it is
to implement correct veld, game and europaea subsp. africana, which is planned that new fauna bloodlines will
environmental management for an area. approximately 400-600 years old, and be brought onto site to ensure genetic
is affectionately known as “Gogo Olive”. diversity. LSA
UNISA’s report included: A specific boardwalk has been built
• the identification of plant communities
as ecosystems or management units;
• the mapping and description of the
vegetation types and associated habitat
types; and
• the determination of the general
condition of the veld in the nature area.

The Braun-Blanquet survey technique
was used for the study to identify, classify
and describe vegetation communities
and ecological units. This allows for the
mapping of vegetation communities
and comparison of the data with similar
studies in the area.

The full report covered the following
aspects: plant communities, veld
conditions, game management, fire
management, roads, erosion control,
water provision, invasive alien plant
control, fencing and bush encroachment.

Noteworthy points
During a drive through the nature area
and its archaeological ruins, Hoy pointed ‘Gogo Olive’ a 400 year old Olive tree in the nature reserve
out the following:

Landscape SA • Issue 97 2020 13