Lourens River Protected Natural Environment is a section of protected land along the

Lourens River Helderberg refers to a planning district of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, the mountain after which it is named, a wine-producing area in the Western Cape province of South Africa, or a small census area in Somerset West. Or ...

in the Helderberg region,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The Lourens River is about long, flowing from the Hottentots Holland Mountains into

False Bay False Bay (Afrikaans ''Valsbaai'') is a body of water in the Atlantic Ocean between the mountainous Cape Peninsula and the Hottentots Holland Mountains in the extreme south-west of South Africa. The mouth of the bay faces south and is demarcat ...

at Strand. Its upper reaches are relatively undisturbed and are privately owned. However, the lower part of the river flows through developed areas as well as past

fynbos Fynbos (; meaning fine plants) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. This area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean clim ...

and plantations of invasive alien trees. This natural area is threatened by pollution as well as by invasive alien weeds such as

Kikuyu grass The tropical Poaceae, grass species ''Cenchrus clandestinus'' (previously Pennisetum clandestinum) is known by several common names, most often kikuyu grass, as it is native to the highland regions of East Africa that is home to the Kikuyu peop ...

and the Black Wattle tree. The Dick Dent Bird Sanctuary is contained within the protected area. Beside the protected area is the Vergelegen Nature Reserve. West of the protected environment is the

Helderberg Nature Reserve Helderberg Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Somerset West, South Africa. This nature reserve is located on the southern slopes of the Helderberg mountains. Its 398 ha consist mostly of “Kogelberg Sandstone Fynbos” (a highly species-rich ...

See also

References

Further reading