The Van Stadens River Wild Flower Reserve ( af, Van Stadens-veldblomreservaat) near

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

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 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 ...

, is one of the oldest nature reserves in the country.

Location

The park covers 600 hectares and lies 40 km west of Port Elizabeth, on an old stretch at the top of

Van Stadens Pass Van Stadens Pass is situated in the Eastern Cape, province of South Africa, on the R102 regional route, between Port Elizabeth and Humansdorp. It is a passage through the gorge of the Van Stadens River Van Stadens River is a river in the East ...

. The

Van Stadens River Van Stadens River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The river mouth is located about 30 km west of Port Elizabeth. The river was named after Marthinus van Staden, one of the area’s pioneering farmers. He was also a ...

forms the western border, the N2 road runs through the area, and from here one has a good view of the gorge of the River, the

Van Stadens Bridge The Van Stadens Bridge is a concrete arch bridge over the Van Stadens River in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. It carries road traffic for the N2 national highway. Suicides at Van Stadens Bridge The Van Stadens Bridge on the N2 was opened o ...

, and northeast toward the Lady Slipper Trail. The reserve was founded in 1951 and is owned by the

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality ( af, Nelson Mandelabaai Metropolitaanse Munisipaliteit; xh, uMasipala wase Nelson Mandela Bay or ''uMasipala waseBhayi'') is one of eight metropolitan municipalities (also called Category A municipalities) in So ...

Uses

The main purpose of the reserve is to grow unique, indigenous plants, but it is also used as a centre for

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discip ...

. A traditional

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

hut, household articles, and a

kraal Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African settlement or village surrounded by a fence of th ...

with farm equipment give insight into Xhosa culture. There is also an

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

and a

plant nursery A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...

there. Walking, hiking, and

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

trails as well as picnic areas are available.

Flora and fauna

Cape

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 ...

is the natural

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

here. Many species of

protea ''Protea'' () is a genus of South African flowering plants, also called sugarbushes (Afrikaans: ''suikerbos''). Etymology The genus ''Protea'' was named in 1735 by Carl Linnaeus, possibly after the Greek god Proteus, who could change his form a ...

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

s, and ''

Erica Erica or ERICA may refer to: * Erica (given name) * ''Erica'' (plant), a flowering plant genus * Erica (chatbot), a service of Bank of America * ''Erica'' (video game), a 2019 FMV video game * ''Erica'' (spider), a jumping spider genus * Eric ...

'' can be found, as well as

succulent plant In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants with parts that are thickened, fleshy, and engorged, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions. The word ''succulent'' comes from the Latin word ''sucus'', meani ...

s and rare

cycad Cycads are seed plants that typically have a stout and woody (ligneous) trunk (botany), trunk with a crown (botany), crown of large, hard, stiff, evergreen and (usually) pinnate leaves. The species are dioecious, that is, individual plants o ...

s. The

lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

''Cyrtanthus stadensis'' is endemic to the park. Among the 60 species of trees found here is the rare Cape wing-nut (''

Atalaya capensis ''Atalaya capensis'' (also called Cape wing-nut) is a species of plant in the family Sapindaceae. It is endemic to the Cape Provinces of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, so ...

''), only growing here, in the surrounding mountains, and near

Suurberg Pass Suurberg Pass () is traverses the Suurberg range in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, on the regional road R335, between Coerney and Somerset East. The pass hugs the western edge of the Nyati section of the Addo Elephant National P ...

. There is also a large grove of Cape chestnut, '' Colodendrum capense''. Notable fauna include the threatened

Cape dwarf chameleon The Cape dwarf chameleon (''Bradypodion pumilum'') is a chameleon native to the South African province of the Western Cape, where it is restricted to the region around Cape Town. As with most chameleons, its tongue is twice the length of its body ...

and certain species of frog. 170 species of birds have been spotted here.

Rock art

The park is generally held to contain the southernmost

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

in Africa.

References

Sources

* Logie, Bartle. ''Governor's travels. A journey along the Kouga/

Tsitsikamma The Tsitsikamma National Park is a protected area on the Garden Route, Western Cape and Eastern Cape, South Africa. It is a coastal reserve well known for its indigenous forests, dramatic coastline, and the Otter Trail. On 6 March 2009 it was ...

coast''. Hunters Retreat: Bluecliff, 1999. {{ISBN, 0-620-24152-7
www.nmbt.co.za

www.pembba.co.za

www.vanstadens.co.za
Nature reserves in South Africa Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality Protected areas established in 1951 1951 establishments in South Africa