MOSSEL BAY NEWS - An area in Heiderand, right where wards 6 and 11 meet, has officially been declared as the Diosma Nature Reserve.

The declaration stems from a process that started in 2014 when the Mossel Bay Municipal Council resolved to, among other points, approve the expansion of the then Diosma Reserve.

Thereafter, two erven were consolidated to form Erf 19274, about 10.8ha, on which the reserve is located. Among other streets, the reserve borders Essenhout, Apiesdoring and Koraalboom.

The Council decided in 2024 to move forward with the process of formally declaring the reserve. A public participation process followed; the municipality said no comments or objections were received.

Agreement
To formally declare the area a nature reserve according to the Protected Areas Act, No 57 of 2003, the municipality has to enter into an agreement with the Western Cape Government. A memorandum of agreement (MoA) as well as a notarial agreement were unanimously approved by the Council in the last open council meeting held at the end of August.

The MoA assigns the management of the conservation area as a nature reserve to the municipality. 

In terms of the notarial agreement, the municipality is appointed as the management authority of the nature reserve and must submit a reserve management plan to the MEC of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, Anton Bredell, within 12 months from the declaration date.

Species
According to the MoA, the property is home to critically endangered, near-threatened and vulnerable plant species. 

This includes Diosma aristata (critically endangered), Erica dispar (near-threatened), Leucospermum praecox (vulnerable), Carpobrotus muirii (vulnerable), Freesia leichtlinii subsp. alba (near-threatened) and Agathosma muirii (vulnerable).

Canca limestone fynbos, which is hardly protected, and the Heiderand sandplain fynbos habitat variant are also found there. 

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