|
NATURE RESERVES
Nkandla forest
Province: Kwazulu Natal
Region:
Main Attractions: Flora
Throughout Zulu history the Nkandla forest has been a place of mystery, the home of supernatural beings, and a formidable stronghold and place of retreat. The Chube are the iron-workers associated with the Nkandla and they were never conquered by Shaka. It has always been the last retreat of the Zulu from Shaka's time to that of Bhambatha.
The Nkandla Forest is one of the most outstanding examples of surviving mist belt forest in South
Africa. The forest covers the crown and south-western slopes of the ridge which lies above the Mhlatuze and Thukela rivers at a height of between 1100 and 1300 m above sea level.
Streams rising in the forest form deep gorges leading into the Nsuze river which runs along the base of the ridge.
Apart from being an area of great, often pristine, natural beauty, the Nkandla Forest represents a rare relict type of high wet rain forest, of which very few examples survive. They are relicts of times in the distant past when the climate was wetter, and even colder.
The forest has an exceptionally high species diversity with many species that are associated with scarp forest occurring. This indicates that Nkandla may be positioned in a transitional zone between mist and scarp forest.
The many rare plants, and the rarity of the habitat type as a whole, are in themselves sufficient reasons for conserving this rare forest
type. There are currently no visitor facilities at Nkandla, though people who wish to hike or camp may do so with the prior permission of the Officer in Charge.
|
|
|
|
|
