Katse Alpine Botanical Gardens (continued)                                                           <<..back

Conservation and Wildlife

• Information exchange

• Sustainable use of Biodiversity

• Technical and scientific cooperation

• Networking at community, national, regional and international level

• Conservation and sustainable use

Conservation and sustainable use

Conservation programme in the garden is still under development to support both in situ and ex situ conservation projects. Initiatives undertaken are seed storage and threatened plants programme. The Garden has now become a safe haven for avifauna as there is little disturbance or exploitation.

Threatened plants

Protection of plants by law has been found inadequate as overexploitation continues unabated thereby leading to loss of plants in their natural habitats. The garden has undertaken the initiative on conservation of threatened plants. To date two plants have been identified for the programme. These are the endemic Aloe polyphylla (spiral aloe) and Thamnocalamus tessellatus (Berg bamboo). For re-introduction programme of the Aloe polyphylla, the garden has pioneered production of seedling from seed successfully, whereas cuttings or rhizome are used for the berg bamboo. Consultations with the communities for re-introduction of species into their natural habitats are still continuing.