South African Cape Shrublands & Mountain Forests (AT2) South African Cape Shrublands & Mountain Forests (AT2) South African Cape Shrublands & Mountain Forests (AT2)

Image credits: (1) Courtesy of Paul Venter (2) Courtesy of Gregoire Dubois (3) Courtesy of Winfried Bruenken

South African Cape Shrublands & Mountain Forests bioregion

The bioregion’s land area is provided in units of 1,000 hectares. The protection goal is the combined Global Safety Net (GSN1) areas for the component ecoregions. The protection level indicates the percentage of the GSN goal that is currently protected on a scale of 0-10. N/A means data is not available at this time.

  • 17,833
    Total Land Area (1000 ha)
  • 5
    Number of Ecoregions
  • 31%
    Protection Target
  • 5
    Protection Level

The South African Cape is the only Mediterranean bioregion in the Afrotropical realm. It is confined to the small southern coastline of the continent and incorporates the succulent Karoo ecoregion, which is tightly interlinked with the dominant shrublands. The bioregion contains five ecoregions – Renosterveld Shrubland [1], Fynbos Shrubland [2], Succulent Karoo Xeric Shrublands [3], Knysna-Amatole Montane Forests [4], Albany Thickets [5] – and adjacent marine areas. It is an area of extraordinarily high plant diversity and endemism that includes the Cape Floristic Region, one of only 7 floral kingdoms in the world, with over 9000 plant species, two-thirds of which are endemic. The total land area of this bioregion is nearly 18 million hectares.

The South African Cape Shrublands & Mountain Forests bioregion is part of the Southern Afrotropics subrealm and is made up of five ecoregions: Renosterveld Shrubland [1], Fynbos Shrubland [2], Succulent Karoo Xeric Shrublands [3], Knysna-Amatole Montane Forests [4], Albany Thickets [5].

One Earth is dedicated to mobilizing philanthropic capital to protect the ecosystems and peoples of the Afrotropics. Visit the Project Marketplace to explore projects in this realm that need your support. Learn more about each of the Central South African Cape Shrublands & Mountain Forests ecoregions below.

Knysna banana frog

Iconic Species

Knysna banana frog
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