The construction of the much anticipated Kwelera National Botanical Garden is steadily underway, with phase one’s development scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023.
This was confirmed by the Kwelera National Botanical Garden team at a public awareness meeting and plant sale on April 8 at Hemingways Mall.
The R220m project will be completed in two phases and will span the 10ha of land adjacent to the reserve.
Construction started in May 2022 and phase one involves the completion of the visitors’ centre, staff facility, guard house and parking areas.
Phase one was initially intended to be complete by the end of the financial year, however construction work was delayed by heavy rains.
Phase two will include the design and construction of the two themed gardens, the greenhouses, the environmental education centre and the administration block.
Once opened, the Kwelera Botanical Gardens will play an important role in the conservation, protection and rehabilitation of important endemic Eastern Cape plants.
Currently, local plants used for medicinal purposes are in danger of extinction and the Kwelera Botanical Garden will play a central role in curbing this threat.
Garden manager Nomama Mei said, “We want to partner with users of the medicinal plants to look after them and conserve them. Plants that face possible extinction are clivia nobilis, cycads and other succulents that have medicinal properties targeted by criminal syndicates involved in poaching.
“In Kwelera, Sunrise-on-Sea and all along the 16km strip of nature reserve, there is a lot of poaching activity and our garden will fortify protection from poachers and house plants with the aim of restoring them back into the wild.
“All SANB gardens are rehabilitation centres and plants that have been uprooted and thrashed while poaching need to be nurtured and looked after again so they can be released into the wild.”
Currently, estate managers and environmental inspectors working with law enforcement are help with conservation efforts in the hotspots in Kwelera and while the construction work is being completed, Mei and her team will be launching a Friends of the Garden group so that volunteers can be found to help raise awareness about the garden and to assist in protecting Eastern Cape plants from poachers.
Mei said, “I am excited for the multitude of employment opportunities the garden will bring into the Eastern Cape once its open, including the wealth that can be derived from tourism and the huge contributions we will be making towards conservation nationally.”
