Scientists with Rainforest Trust’s partners in South Africa recently re-discovered a plant species on the Geometric Tortoise Reserve so rare it was thought to be extinct.

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[crb_slide image=”https://legacy.rainforesttrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Aspalathus-amoena2.png” credits=”Re-discovered Aspalathus amoena. Photo by Douglas Euston-Brown” title=”” text=””]
[crb_slide image=”https://legacy.rainforesttrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Aspalathus-amoena.png” credits=”Re-discovered Aspalathus amoena. Photo by Douglas Euston-Brown” title=”” text=””]
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Last year, Rainforest Trust partnered with the Turtle Conservancy and South African Turtle Conservation Trust (SATCT) to create the 212-acre Geometric Tortoise Preserve. Located in the Upper Breede Valley of western South Africa, the new preserve provides habitat for an estimated 100-200 geometric tortoises—a tiny and highly endangered tortoise no bigger than the palm of a human hand. Turtle Conservancy experts believe this community represents one of the last and largest viable populations of geometric tortoise in the world making the new preserve a crucial sanctuary for the species.

In addition to providing much needed protection for Geometric Tortoises, scientists recently discovered that the preserve holds one of the only known populations of a rare plant species. Aspalathus amoena is categorized as ‘near extinct’. However, on a recent survey Douglas Euston-Brown from the South Africa Program of the Turtle Conservancy re-discovered the plant growing in the preserve.

Euston-Brown first found a small population of the plants on a nearby farm named Groenvlei three years ago, and the survey yielded only 7 individuals. The new survey at the Geometric Tortoise Reserve yielded a population of over 50 of the plants – boosting the known population by over 500%.

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[crb_slide image=”https://legacy.rainforesttrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Biodiversity.jpg” credits=”The Geometric Tortoise is one of the world’s rarest reptile . Photo by The Turtle Conservancy” title=”” text=””]
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Aspalathus amoena is one of many rare plants found in the Lourensford Alluvium Fynbos, a critically endangered vegetation area endemic to the region around Cape Town and the preserve. This unique vegetation is part of the greater Cape Floristic Region. Encompassing the Western Cape of South Africa, the Cape Floristic Region is an area of extraordinarily high diversity and endemism, home to over 9,000 vascular plant species, many of which are endemic and found nowhere else in the world.

Discoveries like this highlight the importance of protecting the area both for endangered Geometric Tortoises and a host of other rare plant and animal species. To build on the preserve’s success, Rainforest Trust recently helped Turtle Conservancy and SATCT purchase two additional parcels of land that expand the reserve by 598 acres. This added protection gives both the Geometric Tortoise and the many rare plants of this spectacularly biodiverse area an even better chance for recovery.

Learn more about Rainforest Trusts efforts to establish the Geometric Tortoise Preserve.