The valley sits on the northern slopes of the Tygerberg, in one of the most threatened vegetation types in the country. The open spaces are not leftover land: they are remnants of Swartland Shale Renosterveld, a critically endangered type of fynbos that exists almost nowhere else.
Most of the common property belongs to the City of Cape Town. The association works on it through a service level agreement with Eden Landscaping, under the guidance of the environment trustees, and in partnership with the Tygerberg Wetlands Association and the Van Riebeeckshof Valley NPC.
What is protected
- Boschendal Park renosterveld: more than 100 recorded plant species, six of them threatened, including the endangered Serruria brownii.
- The Tygerberg Wetlands: a fenced wetland on an aquifer system running from Tygerberg through Majik Forest.
- Wildflower stepping stones: demarcated patches where mowing stops so endangered flora and their pollinators can propagate.
- Majik Forest and the green belts: the walking and cycling routes that make the valley liveable.
What residents can do
- Never dump garden refuse or rubble in a green belt. It smothers the plants and it is removed at members’ cost.
- Plant indigenous. The City’s nursery supplies trees for the area during the rainy season.
- Keep cats in at night and dogs on leads, the green belt is habitat, not a park.
- Report alien vegetation, dumping or damage to the managing agent so it reaches the environment portfolio.