Support Beachwood Mangroves’ indigenous plant sales

The North Durban Honorary Officers (NDHO) look after the nursery situated at the reserve and use the funds raised from the sale of indigenous plants to further their cause of educating the public on the importance of the mangroves.

North Durban Honorary Officer, Rosemary Harrison holds up a Plectranthus or spurflower, just two of the various indigenous plants for sale at the Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve's open mornings. She has encouraged residents to plant indigenous because they are friendlier to the environment.

WHILE hundreds of visitors and volunteers visit the Beachwood Mangroves Nature Reserve on the third Saturday every month for the reserve’s open morning and the monthly #CleanBlueLagoon beach clean-ups, they may miss the stand of indigenous plants for sale grown at the reserve.

The North Durban Honorary Officers (NDHO) look after the nursery situated at the reserve and use the funds raised from the sale of indigenous plants to further their cause of educating the public on the importance of the mangroves and other environmental projects they are involved in.

Northglen News caught up with Rosemary Harrison, one of the honorary officers in charge of looking after the nursery. The green-fingered volunteer said she loves watching plants grow and hoped to educate those visiting the reserve about the importance of planting indigenous.

“I love being outdoors and I love working with plants and watching them grow. So I think it was natural for me to look after the nursery. The nursery here at the reserve has everything from ground covers to bushes to trees to aloes. Through the sales of the indigenous plants on our open mornings we raise funds for various projects we are involved in. So we encourage visitors to visit our stand on the open mornings to buy indigenous. I also have a good amount of knowledge on the plants and, if people need, I’m happy to offer my expertise and advice,” she explained.

Harrison also explained what the benefits of planting indigenous were.

“I think most people aren’t aware of how alien invasive plants take up the water table. Indigenous plants are much hardier and require less water. The other great thing about planting indigenous is they attract butterflies, insects and other wildlife to the garden which is a huge plus for the environment,” she said.

Harrison said residents of Durban North could also email her if they were interested in indigenous plants (shavaotter@gmail.com).

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