The Kwelera Nature Reserve is a coastal forest reserve in the Wild Coast region of the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

, South Africa. Access to the reserve is through the adjacent

Kwelera National Botanical Garden The Kwelera National Botanical Garden is located at the Kwelera Nature Reserve on the Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape. It lies at the mouth of the Kwelera River. The garden is the 10th national botanical garden established in South Africa ...

, where the reserve now serves as the natural portion of the garden. The reserve stretches from the Kwelera River on the eastern side, to the Gqunube River (Gonubie) at the western end of the reserve. It is a park in the greater East London Coast Nature Reserve.

Etymology

is the anglicised

Khoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

word for 'place of aloes'.

History

The reserve was created in 1983 along with the

Gulu Nature Reserve The Gulu Nature Reserve, part of the greater East London Coast Nature Reserve, is a coastal forest reserve in the Wild Coast region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The reserve lies between the Gxulu River estuary, located on its western ...

and

Cape Henderson Nature Reserve The Cape Henderson Nature Reserve, part of the greater East London Coast Nature Reserve, is a coastal forest reserve in the Wild Coast region of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. History The reserve was created in 1983 along with the Gulu Na ...

for the conservation of the region's fauna and flora. In 2014, were purchased by

SANBI The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is an organisation established in 2004 in terms of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, No 10 of 2004, under the South African Department of Environmental Affairs (l ...

for the creation of the Kwelera National Botanical Garden; this land would be added to the reserve and become the first national botanical in the Eastern Cape. It would be jointly managed by SANBI and

Eastern Cape Parks Eastern Cape Parks are the national parks, marine protected areas, nature reserves and other nature conservation areas in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency (ECPTA) is the governmental organisation resp ...

Kwelera Island Local Nature Reserve

In 1994, the Kwelera Island Local Nature Reserve was established as a protected area at the mouth of the Kwelera River. It is found opposite the reserve.

Geography

The highest peak, named Magozo, is a 77-metre high dune in the coastal dune forest. The village of Kwelera is surrounded by the reserve.

Biodiversity

This reserve, flanked on either side by estuaries, consists of coastal dune vegetation that hosts a profusion of wildlife, which include:

Birds

Emerald-spotted wood dove The emerald-spotted wood dove (''Turtur chalcospilos'') is a bird of the family Columbidae, resident across eastern and southern Africa. It is a species of open drier deciduous woodland and second growth. It is absent from evergreen rainforests a ...

, fish eagle,

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychus ...

and Knysna turaco.

Fish

Bluefish The bluefish (''Pomatomus saltatrix'') is the only extant species of the family Pomatomidae. It is a marine pelagic fish found around the world in temperate and subtropical waters, except for the northern Pacific Ocean. Bluefish are known as ta ...

, mullet, rays,

Sand shark Sand sharks, also known as sand tiger sharks, gray nurse sharks or ragged tooth sharks, are Lamniformes, mackerel sharks of the family (biology), family Odontaspididae. They are found worldwide in temperate and tropical waters. The three specie ...

s and strepies.

Insects

The rare deceptive diadem butterfly.

Mammals

Small buck like

blue duiker The blue duiker (''Philantomba monticola'') is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspecies are ident ...

and

bushbuck The Cape bushbuck (''Tragelaphus sylvaticus'') is a common and a widespread species of antelope in sub-Saharan Africa.Wronski T, Moodley Y. (2009)Bushbuck, harnessed antelope or both? ''Gnusletter'', 28(1):18-19. Bushbuck are found in a wide ra ...

caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...

porcupine Porcupines are large rodents with coats of sharp spines, or quills, that protect them against predation. The term covers two families of animals: the Old World porcupines of family Hystricidae, and the New World porcupines of family, Erethizont ...

, vervet monkeys,

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s and

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...

Reptiles

Puff adder.

Vegetation

The

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

and

temperate zone In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout t ...

vegetation receives on average 800mm of rainfall a year. White milkwood, red milkwood and

silver oak ''Grevillea robusta'', commonly known as the southern silky oak, silk oak or silky oak, silver oak or Australian silver oak, is a flowering plant in the family Proteaceae. It is a tree, the largest species in its genus but is not closely rela ...

are found throughout the reserve. The flame lily, paintbrush lily and orchids are also found under cover of the milkwoods and oaks. Other flowering plants found on the reserve are the sour fig, winter poker,

Haemanthus albiflos ''Haemanthus albiflos'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to the coast and mountains of South Africa. It is sometimes given the English name paintbrush, not to be confused with ''Castilleja'' species which also ...

, num-num and

Clematis brachiata ''Clematis brachiata'', commonly known as traveller's joy, is a hardy, deciduous Southern African liana of the family Ranunculaceae. It tends to clamber to the tops of trees and shrubs, sprawling over the crowns. Leaves are compound with from 1 ...

. Sea pumpkin are instrumental in stabilising the dunes. Also found along the coast is the

wild banana Wild banana may refer to: * ''Musa acuminata'', wild ancestor of the domestic banana plants * ''Musa balbisiana'', the domestic banana and true plantain plants See also * Wild type The wild type (WT) is the phenotype of the typical form of a sp ...

and aloe.

Trails

The Strandloper Trail traverses across the reserve to Gonubie.

References

{{reflist Nature reserves in South Africa Eastern Cape Provincial Parks