Five Botany Pilgrimages to Make Before Climate Change Sets In
A King Protea, the national flower of South Africa. Photo: wikipedia.org
In September of this year the IPCC climate report was released, and the conclusions made on the physical science of global warming were simple and devastating. The world climate system has changed in ways unprecedented in global geological history, and it is our fault. The predicted rise in sea levels, ocean temperatures, and greenhouse gases means that in another decade, large parts of the natural world may have changed drastically due to shifts in their environments that kill off sensitive species. And because of the fundamental aspect of their structure that means they cannot just up and move, the predications for the future of some of the world’s rarest and most specialised plants seems bleak.
I spent my childhood in Namibia, a desert country famous in Southern Africa for, amongst other things, a spectacular range of bizarre and beautiful indigenous plant species. As my last travel article was a list of places I want to go someday, this is instead a list of places I have visited and which left a powerful impression on me as a scientist and a lover of beauty. All these places have in common the fact that their ecology is all about balance, and we are fast approaching a point where natural safeguards won’t be able to restore that balance when disturbed.
1. Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa
I cannot sell South Africa enough to botany lovers. Around 10% of the world’s flowering species are indigenous to the country, and is the only country in the world with its own plant kingdom: the Cape Floral Kingdom. And the best way to see as much of it as possible, when a trip across the whole of the country is unfeasible, is to visit the botanical gardens, where species from all the many South African ecosystems are displayed in beautiful surroundings.
Spring in Namaqualand. Photo: Chris Preen on flickr.com
Kirstenbosch rests against the Eastern slopes of Table Mountain, and was in 1913 the first botanical garden to ever be devoted to its home’s indigenous flora. It is also one of the most singularly beautiful places I’ve ever been, and half of my favourite childhood memories involve lying on my back, surrounded by the scent of fynbos and blooming proteas, and looking up at the flat-top mountain silhouetted against the sky.
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Photo: Damien Du Toit on flickr.com
The best time for a botany lover to visit the Cape of Good Hope is in the Spring, particularly at the beginning of September, because in addition to seeing Kirstenbosch at its absolute best, the flowering of 4,000 species of Namaqualand flowers (including the famous Namaqualand Daisy) is breathtaking and well worth a detour. By far the easiest way to get around in Cape Town is by renting a car, and the drive through the rainbow-blanketed velt is an experience not to be missed. However, you’re sold on a Summer trip to the beaches of the cape, all is not lost: there is little more beautiful than the candlelit carol services held at Kirstenbosch in December.
2. The Skeleton Coast, Namib Desert, Namibia
The Namib Desert is one of the strangest places on Earth, and may also be its oldest surviving desert, having been arid for 55-80 million years. The name ‘The Skeleton Coast’ actually ties in with why it is such a unique place in terms of plant life; the thousand or so ships that lie wrecked along the coast met their doom due to intense fogs that often cover large parts of the desert. This fog is a vital and reliable source of moisture for plants and animals that, quite simply, could never exist anywhere else.
Sand dunes in the Namib. Both photos: wikipedia.org
The biggest one to see is, undeniably, the Welwitschia mirabilis. It is an iconic image, though few realise how bizarre its biology is. The weird two-leaved shrub shows evidence of living for over 2000 years, and is a biological wonder. Similarly, halfmens is a succulent that grows in a straight line up to 4 meters tall, and can live over a hundred years at altitudes of 300-900m above sea level. Further inland are forests of bone-white, papery Quiver Trees, and spiky purple-blooming hoodia.
Quiver trees on the Skeleton Coast
On the drive from the capital, Windhoek, to the coast, you will see signs asking visitors not to wander off from the side of the road, to protect ancient and very delicate lichen species that cover parts of the desert. Almost everything living that you see in the Namib is unique, fragile, and strange, and its stark beauty is reliant on a balanced climate that has been unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years.
3. Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA
Now that the US Government is up and running again, I was able to access the website of the National Park Service to get some more information about Shenandoah. I visited the summer before last, and was utterly blown away by the beauty of the forest, the diversity of plant life, and the views from the top of the plateau. The diversity of enormous furry caterpillars was less appealing, but if I had returned in a few weeks’ time, I feel certain I would have been treated to displays of butterflies worth such huge pre-cocoon stages.
Autumn in the Shenandoah Valley. Photo: Jeffry N Curtis on flickr.com
Shenandoah is a huge protected reserve of land, famous for hiking and camping, and it has many beautiful waterfalls and many alarming signs warning of bear attacks. For the visitor interested in stooping over to inspect the local flora – and exposing their vulnerable back to ursine attackers – the seasonal display of wildflowers begins in early Spring with the purple hepatica and moves through wild geraniums, pink azaleas, and delicate columbine. Boasting 862 wildflower species, and 1406 vascular plants in total, the vast majority of native plants in Shenandoah have well-documented importance for local wildlife for birds, deer, and insects.
Wildlife in Shenandoah. Photo from wikipedia.org
Situated 75 miles from Washington, this is an easy addition to any grand tour of the USA, and one that really shouldn’t be missed. Any time from March until mid-June is the best time for wildflowers, and also for butterflies and the highest statistical probability of adorable baby woodland creatures.
4. Chitwan National Park, Nepal
Not many visitors to Chitwan are there for the remarkable plants that make this lower Himalayan rainforest their home, but then, this is a place where one US dollar can buy you a bath with an elephant and you get unlimited curry for half that amount. Nevertheless, the forest is extraordinary – a UNESCO World Heritage Site, like so many of Nepal’s tourist destinations – and it is best seen on the back of an Asian elephant, moving through the Sal trees and hearing the ubiquitous Nepali sound of monkeys fighting somewhere nearby.
Elephant safari through Chitwan. Photo from wikipedia.org
The seasonality in Chitwan flora is a result of a dramatically dynamic relationship with natural weather changes. The grasslands along the riverbanks move seamlessly into the forest itself, and so both change constantly with bushfires, flooding, and erosion. About 20% of the park is savannah grassland containing some of the world’s tallest grasses, and visits to local villages can give an insight into how so many of the plants in Chitwan are used to support methods of farming and medicine thousands of years old.
Asian One-Horned Rhino deep in the forest. Photo Pablo Nicolas Taibi on flickr.com
The best time to visit Nepal is anytime outside of monsoon season, and that goes double for Chitwan. I was there at the height of the monsoons, and can confirm that there is no such thing as ‘cooling rains’ in 100% humidity with patchy electricity. December to March is particularly good for bird watching.
5. Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Rwanda
This is the jungle, the way you read about it in children’s books and saw in old Tarzan movies. Vast, isolated, and home to Dian Fossey’s famous misty gorillas, trekking through the forest is an experience not to be missed. And, if you manage to avoid the unpleasantness of the giant stinging nettles and fire-ants, the beauty of the place is nearly indescribable.
Bwindi in the mist. Photo on fotopedia.com
The forest is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, famed for exceptional biodiversity, including over 100 flowering plants, 200 species of tree, and 100 ferns. The flora is directly linked to the fact that the forest is considered the most important in Africa for montane forest butterflies, with 202, including eight that are found nowhere else on Earth. In addition to the famous big mammals - a dozen species of monkey obviously not including the gorillas and several rare deer amongst others – there is a spectacular array of birdlife that can be spotted from lodges or from high up the mountainside. At lower altitudes, you can even find the internationally recognised endangered species Brown mahogany.
A young gorilla in the jungle. Photo on fotopedia.com
Most people travel to Bwindi to trek into the forest in search of the gorillas. The most common way is to go through the Ugandan side of the range, as they have the highest proportion gorillas acclimatised to visitors; at last count, the licence costs around U$500, without transport and accommodation. I personally visited the forest first in Uganda, fell in love, and arranged to go trekking on the Rwandan side later in my trip. On the walk up the mountainside, our guide, Hope, helped me identify some of the flora I had noticed on my first visit.
These are just a few places I have visited, and they barely scratch the surface of those I’d like to see someday. Biodiversity of mammals and birds is relatively easy to see at first glance, but it is harder to observe, and protect, the range of plants and fungi that are foundations to fragile ecosystems. As climate change results in heavier rainfalls, more flooding and forest fires, and a general shift in temperatures, we will need the work being done by scientists such as those working at these 5 sanctuaries to preserve what might be all too easily lost.
Further information:
All photos, as ever, from Creativecommons.org