News

The situation is closely monitored by the Park”s Trails Division in both Bloukrans (Neil Swartz) as well as Storms River Mouth/Storms River (Victor Cunningham). The trails are expected to be open sometime this week as very little rain is expected, mainly passing showers tomorrow.

The Park”s planned mountain biking fun ride in Knysna on Saturday, will also continue as the weather is expected to clear by Saturday, the 07th November.

There are no reported flooded areas in the Knysna and Wilderness sections of the GRNP.

Most hiking trails in the GRNP are in the forest areas. Spanning across gorges and mountain hills, are tall, dense, species-rich “Afro-temperate forests of the Garden Route”. They are the largest forest complex in Southern Africa (approximately 60 500 hectares) according to the SANParks State of Knowledge Report (2013) released by its scientists in the Garden Route.

They occur from sea level to altitudes of 1 000 meters or more, but most of the high forest occurs on the coastal plateau and foothills of the mountains. They display great variation in forest structure, species composition and species density due to the variations in topography, soils, microclimate and other factors. The mountain forests (mostly wet forests) are typical Afro-montane forest. Dry forests or scrub forests occur on the coastal scarp or on the steep slopes of the river valleys (Phillips,1931). The plateau forests are typically moist and medium-moist forests and include mainly species of Afro-montane affinity.

A total of 465 plant species are known to occur in these forests.

Media queries, contact, Nandi Mgwadlamba, 044 302 5633 or 078 702 9663, [email protected]