Mail & Guardian
Mail & Guardian

Spekboom

latest news & developments
Spekboom, a hardy, unassuming succulent shrub, has become one of the country’s most quietly powerful climate allies. (Imperative)
ALBANY THICKET

Spekboom restoration at centre of $120m World Bank climate bond

The World Bank has priced a $120m spekboom restoration bond in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, linking investor returns to ecosystem recovery

  • Sheree Bega
5 min read
Rondevlei Manager Dalton Gibbs with the Erica Verticcalata
BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT BRANCH

Locally extinct Erica makes a comeback in Cape Town

Erica verticillata, a plant endemic to an area along the Cape Flats, may have risen from extinction

  • Tunicia Phillips
3 min read
A herd of elephants drinks at the watering hole in Addo National Park in South Africa, 70 kilometres northeast of Port Elizabeth in the Sundays River Valley. Photo: Horst Galuschka/dpa (Photo by Horst Galuschka/picture alliance via Getty Images)
ADDO ELEPHANT NATIONAL PARK

SANParks shifts to solar and spekboom

Solar-generated pumps are pumping larger volumes of water for wildlife than diesel used to, and spekboom is helping offset carbon emissions

  • Tunicia Phillips
4 min read
Safety valves: Ecosystems such as the fynbos of the Western Cape absorb and slow down water and channel the runoff into streams and rivers. (Hoberman Collection/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
BIODIVERSITY

‘The future is closer than expected’

Restoring ecosystems — wetlands, savannahs and grasslands — will mitigate the effects of global warming

  • Tunicia Phillips
4 min read