New National Botanical Garden
at Nieuwoudtville

The Minister of the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) is proud to announce the establishment of South Africa 's 9th National Botanical Garden on the outskirts of Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape, South Africa.

The new garden, to be established on the farm Glenlyon, comprises over 6,300 ha of land on the Bokkeveld Plateau, and is world renowned for its incredible diversity of bulbous plants. Some 40% of the flora comprises bulbs that create spectacular displays in autumn and spring each year. The Garden also comprises large natural patches of renosterveld fynbos and succulent karoo vegetation.

Some 1,350 plant species have so far been recorded on the Bokkeveld Plateau, including 80 range-restricted or endemic species (6% of the flora). Almost a third of the species endemic to the Bokkeveld Plateau are threatened with extinction. Due to the incredible diversity and density of bulbs, Nieuwoudtville's biodiversity is of international significance and it is often referred to as ‘the bulb capital of the world'.

“The new National Botanical Garden in Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape will provide an important conservation area which will be used by SANBI to promote nature-based tourism, the conservation of the area's unique biodiversity, environmental education opportunities and long term ecological research in this botanical hotspot of global significance.” the Minister said.

The purchase of the farm Glenlyon was made possible through generous funding provided by the national Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT), Conservation International (CI) through the Global Conservation Fund (GCF), and the Leslie Hill Succulent Karoo Trust through the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF, South Africa ).

The new Nieuwoudtville National Botanical Garden plans to be open to the public in January 2008 and will serve as a centre for biodiversity research in the Succulent Karoo region and Bokkeveld Plateau. Focus will be on promoting long-term ecological research, conservation, nature-based tourism and education relating to the region's biodiversity, working closely with local and regional stakeholders, bioregional programmes, conservation agencies, universities and museums. The official launch of the new national botanical garden took place on the farm Glenlyon outside Nieuwoudtville on Tuesday 28 August 2007.

SANBI was established under the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, No. 10 of 2004. SANBI's mission is to promote the sustainable use, conservation, appreciation and enjoyment of the exceptionally rich biodiversity of South Africa, for the benefit of all people. The first national botanical garden of the country, Kirstenbosch, was established in 1913 and today SANBI manages South Africa 's network of eight national botanical gardens, located across five provinces.

The last national botanical garden established was the Walter Sisulu NBG in Roodepoort/Mogale City, Gauteng, in 1982, 25 years ago. Part of SANBI's Corporate Strategic Plan is to have at least one national botanical garden located in all nine South African provinces. National botanical gardens have been defined internationally as institutions holding documented collections of living plants for the purposes of scientific research, conservation, display and education.