GRASSLANDS
I was sitting at a local tavern the other day enjoying a cup of coffee when I
overhead snatches of a conversation between two people that I did not
recognize. Mind you, I had been away from the Mountain for a few years and
there are many new people around, so they could have been locals.
They were talking about the local grasslands which now has official
conservation status and is classified as a Provincial Nature Reserve.
It took many long years of hard work by a dedicated team of naturalists and
enthusiasts to finally persuade the authorities that this remnant piece of
‘Wolkberg Granite Grassland’ was not only one of the last of its kind, but that it
also had very special, if not irreplaceable, values for the local environment. If
you want to know more Google ‘FroHG’ or Friends of the Haenertsburg
Grasslands.
Now, what I overheard was one man asking why should an area of ‘just
(sommer) veld grasses’ be given protected status, when it could be used for
something more useful like crops that could earn money!’
That is a question that could be asked about many conservation areas,
especially at a time when so many people are unemployed and hungry and
there is a growing need to strengthen our food security situation. This is a big
question and one that I couldn’t ope to answer in one short blog.
I didn’t hear very much more of that conversation at the tavern and all I heard
was the other man saying, ‘Yes, man! We could grow a lot of lekker things like
avocados on that ground! What use is a piece of veld with not even some
sheep grazing on it?’
Good question, you may think.
In the meantime, let me just say that the grassland adjacent to the village of
Haenertsburg is about 190 hectares in extent, home to 661 indigenous grasses
and plants, 62 mammals, 237 bird species, 38 different reptile species, 11
amphibians and approximately 50 butterflies. Of course, there may be several
other creepy-crawlies and nocturnal visitors that evaded the official census.
There is also the Louis Changuion hiking trail that starts in the village and runs
across the open grassland and through some patches of the indigenous forests.
This is a rewarding ramble of about nine kilometres and in the different
seasons there are always new things to see. Maps of the trail are available at
various shops and taverns in the village.
The Haenertsburg Grasslands are conserved for many different reasons and
they are just another feature of this area that add to its amazing diversity of
things to see and do.
And, by the way, if you are coming this way in Spring time, that is the very best
time to walk across the grasslands where the wild flowers are really at their
best.
That’s all for now, but let me leave you with this thought. Indigenous
grasslands and forests are key areas in what is left of our natural eco-systems,
and they do not have to be ‘used’ because they look as if they are doing
nothing useful! They are all very busy in their own special ways and man has to
realize, sooner rather than later, that the truly natural and wild places on this
planet are disappearing far too fast. Wallace Stagner once wrote the following:
‘We simply need that wild county available to us, even if we never do
more than drive to its edge and look in, for it can be a means of
reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, as part of the geography
of hope …’
And ‘them’s my sentiments!’
Fred Bullock
