ETHEKWINI Municipality’s Parks, Leisure and Cemeteries Department has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the KwaZulu-Natal Clivia Club to initiate a partnership for the conservation of the heritage clivia species.
Considering the conservation challenges, the vulnerability of clivias and the importance of ensuring a plant heritage for future generations, the municipality’s Parks, Leisure and Cemeteries unit is kick starting a relentless campaign to educate the public about clivias, lobby for support of this initiative and create awareness.
The signing of the MOU formalises the relationship between the municipality and the KZN Clivia Club.
In the past, the club collaborated with the Durban Botanical Gardens in its educational programmes. These include research and the establishment of a Habitat Heritage Collection. This will form part of a broader conservation gene-banking initiative.
The Durban Botanic Gardens, as an operational entity of Parks, Leisure and Cemeteries Department, will assist with the cultivation and curating of clivias as part of the Gardens Collections Programme.
The KZN Clivia Club and its affiliated Interest Groups members will share their knowledge of the endangered plant whose available material will assist in the establishment and maintenance of the Clivia Heritage Collection.
“We are very excited with the new venture with the Durban Botanical Garden. One of KZN Clivia Club’s main objective is the conservation of clivia as clivia is endemic only to South Africa (Proudly South African),” said chairman, KZN Clivia Club, Alfred Everson iii.
“Due to the dwindling number of clivia being found in habitat and natural habitat being threatened and destroyed daily, it justified the venture with Durban Botanical Garden to create a sanctuary for protecting our clivia heritage. “Thus, a Clivia Heritage collection has be established with original clone material. KZN is the only province that has three of the six Clivia Species found. C.minaita, C.gardenii and C. robusta. C. gardenii is endemic only to KZN and the population of C. gardenii found in Ngomi forest is distinctly different.
“This makes us proud in caring and educating to ensuring a future for these beautiful plants for many more years to come. Durban Botanical Gardens is setting the trend and we hope that other institutes will follow their lead in protecting the clivia species in other provinces,” Everson said.
The deputy head for Parks, Leisure and Cemeteries, Sibusiso Mkhwanazi, stressed the need to raise awareness on the conservation of the clivia immediately or risk losing its much-needed medicinal value.
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