Blaauwberg Conservation Area Open to the Public Over the Holidays | Western Cape Government

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Blaauwberg Conservation Area Open to the Public Over the Holidays

16 December 2010

The City of Cape Town's Blaauwberg Conservation Area (BCA) will remain open over the December holidays.

The public can enjoy stunning views showing two World Heritage Sites, Robben Island and Table Mountain, as well as picnic sites, braai areas, hiking trails, historic buildings, surfing, windsurfing, bird watching, whale-watching and fishing (permit required).

The coastal section between Big Bay and Melkbosstrand with its four (4) coastal parking areas will be open from sunrise to sunset seven days a week. The Eerstesteen braai- and picnic facility will be open from 08.00 to 19.00.

No alcohol will be allowed on the beach or at Eerstesteen Resort.

Entrance to the coastal parking areas, including Derdesteen, Kreeftebaai, Haakgat and Holbaai, is free. At the Eerstesteen Resort the entrance fees are: adults ten rand (R10), children (3-13 years), students and senior citizens five rand (R5) and sixteen rand (R16) per vehicle. Children under three (3) years are free.

The BCA forms part of the southern area of the Cape West Coast Biosphere Reserve, and is located on the West Coast, about twenty-five kilometres (25 km) from the city centre, between Big Bay, Bloubergstrand and Melkbosstrand and inland from the R27.

The reserve contains three threatened vegetation types: Cape Flats dune strandveld, Cape Flats sand fynbos, and Swartland shale renosterveld.

It is home to at least forty-seven (47) threatened plants and conserves five hundred and fifty-nine (559) plant species, forty-nine (49) mammals, one hundred and sixty-one (161) birds, twenty-three (23) reptiles and three (3) amphibian species, including the dwarf burrowing skink (Scelotes montispectus). This remains the only record of this cryptic species, and it is quite possible that this species exists only in the BCA, and nowhere else in the world. There is also a healthy population of the endangered white-tailed mouse.

The BCA hosts a range of environmental education programmes and activities. Classes on history, archaeology, geography and geology, as well as on the plants and animals in the local ecosystems are offered (booking is essential).

The Friends of BCA contribute to the protection and utilisation of the reserve, by organising outings and events for members and other interested persons. Visit their website www.bca.org.za, or contact Cindy Welch on 084 920 1160 or e-mail goose@capedr.co.za.

The BCA is one of more than thirty (30) nature reserves and natural areas managed by the City of Cape Town. For more information visit www.capetown.gov.za/naturereserve.

Issued by:
Communication Department
City of Cape Town

Media Enquiries: 

Jacques Küyler
Area Manager
Blaauwberg Conservation Area
Tel: 021 554 0957
Email: ettienne.kuyler@capetown.gov.za