The Knersvlakte Nature Reserve is a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

in the

Knersvlakte The Knersvlakte is a region of hilly terrain covered with quartz gravel in Namaqualand in the north-west corner of the Western Cape Province of South Africa. The name, literally "gnashing plain" in Afrikaans,Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

province. It covers an area of in the Matzikama Municipality, north of

Vredendal Vredendal () is a town in the northern Olifants River Valley in the Western Cape province of South Africa, with a population (according to the 2001 census) of 16,164 people. It lies north of Cape Town on the banks of the Olifants River at the so ...

and

Vanrhynsdorp Vanrhynsdorp (also written Van Rhynsdorp; ) is a town located in the West Coast District Municipality of the Western Cape province in South Africa. Considered the oldest and most southern European-settled town in Namaqualand, Vanrhynsdorp serves ...

. The reserve, which was established on 24 September 2014, is owned by the South African branch of the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

and managed by provincial conservation agency

CapeNature CapeNature (officially the Western Cape Nature Conservation Board) is a governmental organisation responsible for maintaining wilderness areas and public nature reserves in Western Cape Province, South Africa. Parks managed by CapeNature West ...

. Of the 1 500 plant species in the Knersvlakte, about 190 species are endemic to the region. Around 155 of these are threatened with extinction, as they succumb easily to climatic conditions and changes. The Knersvlakte is one of the richest and most diverse succulent regions in the world.

References

Provincial nature reserves of the Western Cape Nature reserves in South Africa Matzikama Local Municipality {{Africa-protected-area-stub