Karen Joan Esler

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Cape Town’s Table Mountain Range, with a view of old plantation blocks on the granite slopes. Alien gum invasions are visible in the ravines. Johan Lourens/Getty Images

Lost fynbos seeds from underground ‘time capsules’ in South Africa can grow again – new study

Alanna Rebelo, Agricultural Research Council; Karen Joan Esler, Stellenbosch University; Patricia Holmes, Stellenbosch University, and Tony Rebelo, South African National Biodiversity Institute

Hundreds of ancient fynbos species could regrow and restore a former pine plantation on Cape Town’s Table Mountain, but only if the remaining pine trees are removed.
Alien trees threaten biodiversity, increase the risk of wildfires and also guzzle water. Photo courtesy Cape Winelands Biosphere Reserve

Removing alien plants can save water: we measured how much

Alanna Rebelo, Agricultural Research Council; Karen Joan Esler, Stellenbosch University; Mark New, University of Cape Town, and Petra Holden, University of Cape Town

Clearing alien trees from mountain catchments is a more cost-effective approach to providing water than building and maintaining desalination plants.
Fynbos, the biodiverse shrubland in Cape Town, is thought to have the third highest carbon stored per square metre for any biome in South Africa. It must be protected. Shutterstock

Cape Town’s climate strategy isn’t perfect, but every African city should have one

Alanna Rebelo, Stellenbosch University; Karen Joan Esler, Stellenbosch University; Michael Samways, Stellenbosch University; Patricia Holmes, Stellenbosch University, and Tony Rebelo, South African National Biodiversity Institute

Cape Town’s new climate strategy is a good start. But it falls short when it comes to nature.

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