Table Mountain National Park

Abstract

The Cape Peninsula consists of a chain of mountains that rise dramatically out of the sea, extending from the north, where Table Mountain forms the picture postcard backdrop to the city of Cape Town, to Cape Point in the south. This peninsula is an area of very high conservation value. Aesthetically, it has spectacular scenery with mountains in close proximity to the coastline, itself a succession of beaches and rocky shores of breathtaking beauty. In addition, the peninsula is endowed with an array of diversity almost unparalleled anywhere else on the planet. In the Cape Peninsula there are approximately 2200 species of plants; 25 per cent of the total number of species in the Cape Floral Kingdom, found in only 0.05 per cent of the surface area of the entire kingdom. There are over 100 peninsula plant endemics, a similar number (111) of endemic terrestrial invertebrates and even an endemic vertebrate, the Table Mountain ghost frog (Minter et al, 2004). The biodiversity in the offshoremarine environment is just as remarkable for absolute numbers of species present as well as the level of endemism exhibited (WWF, 2000).