Friends of Tokai Park are excited to officially announce the release of our short feature film titled: "Extinction Rebellion - The story of Tokai Park's plant diversity"
In this short film we tell the story of Tokai Park, its conservation significance and the threats it faces. Containing two vegetation types that are critically endangered, and over 550 native plant species, Tokai Park is a site of global significance. However it is now threatened by the invasive alien trees which caused the land to be saved from development by the city of Cape Town in the first place. What will become of this park, and all its flora?
Check out our film on YouTube:
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Extinction Rebellion - The story of Tokai Park's plant diversity
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Summary:
Invasive alien trees are problematic in fynbos, and this film details four key reasons for this: water, biodiversity, fire and carbon. Despite the known impacts, the community is divided on what should be done about the invasive alien trees at Tokai Park. Should the alien plantations be retained, or the area restored?
Three potential outcomes being considered by the community are presented: (1) compromise, (2) transition planting, and (3) ecological restoration. Which of these will be the fate of this biodiversity hotspot?
This film goes on to explain what ecological restoration is, and the two key types: passive and active restoration. Both have and are being done at Tokai Park, by key conservation organizations, including the Friends of Tokai Park. Restoration at Tokai Park has been remarkably successful to date, largely due to surprisingly intact seedbanks.
What can you do to help? Join Friends of Tokai Park, or a local WESSA (Wildlife and Environment Society of southern Africa) -friends group near you.
Join the extinction rebellion. Get involved in helping during the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
The Friends of Tokai Park acknowledges the European Union, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN): Save Our Species and the Agricultural Research Council for funding to make this film.
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Goodbye from our secretary, Alanna Rebelo
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It is with a sad heart that I bid farewell to all the readers of our FOTP newsletter! Thank you for taking the time to read about our news over the years.
I've been a volunteer at FOTP since 2016, when the debate of pines vs fynbos started heating up after the Cape fires. I've poured hours and hours of time into this, like many other conservationists fighting the good fight. It has been interesting witnessing the aggression that conservationists face, both via email, in person and on social media. It has certainly been a tough eight years in many ways. I have a lot of respect for those at the coalface of conservation for much longer periods.
Its been a pleasure to have been part of building FOTP up, being part of creating a great website, a strong social media presence and following, and of course building our mailing list and membership. We have won many projects over the years, and this also leaves FOTP in a good financial standing. Building up our committee with more youth was a passion for me, and while we have achieved this, we have failed to bring more racial diversity to our team despite trying to actively recruit people. If you know anyone interested in being part of our active committee, please let the current committee know!
This short film was my last project for FOTP for now. I wish FOTP all the very best as they forge ahead. I will continue to support from the sidelines, and continue to fight so that we can see the full restoration of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos at Tokai Park very soon.
Yours in Fynbos conservation, Alanna
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To read more about FOTP's current team, check out this link: https://tokaipark.com/about-us/team/.
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