Cape floristic region
(Click to enlarge map)
 

The Flora of the Cape

  • South Africa is a country rich in natural resources. In addition to its gold, platinum, diamonds and coal, its plants, animals and landscapes have also made the country famous.
  • The indigenous plants of the Western Cape are so different from plants in other parts of the world that botanists have named this area the Cape Floral Kingdom or the Cape Floristic Region (see map).

  • The Cape Floristic Region includes the Fynbos, Forest, Succulent Karoo and Thicket biomes.  Fynbos is so rich in plants that about 80% of all the plants in the Cape Floristic Region come from the Fynbos biome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Floral kingdoms (move your mouse over the links below to see the kingdoms)
 
      Cape
  Neotropical
  Holarctic
  Australian
  Paleotropical
  Holantarctic
There are six vegetation regions in the world called Floral Kingdoms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow facts about the CFR!
  • The Cape Floristic Region (CFR) is the smallest of the six Floral kingdoms. It is also the only Floral Kingdom found entirely within one country. It is therefore up to South Africans to look after this region on behalf of the whole world.
  • The CFR covers 90 000 km2 and nearly 9 000 species of plants grow here naturally.
  • The CFR covers only 6% of the area of South Africa but about 40% of South Africa’s plant species grow here.
  • About 70% of plants found in the CFR grow only in this region and nowhere else on Earth. We call them endemic to the CFR.
  • More than 1 400 species of plants are threatened with extinction in the CFR. This region has the highest concentration of threatened plants in the world See Module 5: Rare, Threatened and Extinct.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The CFR is:
 

<< About 0.04% of the area of the Earth but contains about 3.6% of all plant species >>

(Click to find out)


 
<<less than 0.5% of the area of Africa but contains nearly 20% of African plant
species >>
<<less than 4% of the area of southern Africa but contains nearly 44% of 20 367 southern African plant species>>

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introducing C.A.P.E.

Many people in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape are working together to conserve the Cape Floristic Region and to make sure that nature benefits people in this region.

They are part of a 20-year programme called C.A.P.E. (Cape Action for People and the Environment), which began in 2000. Find out more about C.A.P.E.’s partners, projects and plans on their website www.capeaction.org.za.