Fynbos:
the native vegetation in the Cape winelands
A series of
pictures of fynbos,
the native vegetation in the winelands of South Africa, taken in
October 2010 in late spring. The Cape floral kingdom is among the
most diverse of the six floral kingdoms, even though it is the
smallest (it has 9000 species of plant, of which 6200 are unique to
the region).
From a distance
fynbos doesn't look terribly special. It looks a bit ragged, but
it's only when you take a closer look that you suddenly get an idea
of its diversity, especially when some the plants are in flower.
The South African
wine industry has established a Biodiversity and Wine Initiative (BWI),
which aims at preserving this valuable habitat. So far, 127 000
hectares have been protected, which exceeds the area of vineyard in
the country. Producers are asked to set aside areas of native
vegetation on their farms, thus conserving them.
All pictures are
posted at low resolution; click on thumbnails for larger versions.
All pictures are (c) Jamie Goode. Contact jamie@wineanorak.com
to enquire about rates for use (high resolution versions of these
pictures available)
See
also:
Visiting
South Africa's winelands (series)
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