The locals have a saying that in Knysna nature literally knocks on your front door. With two nature reserves in the midst of the town it is easy to see why.
Pledge Nature Reserve
Pledge Nature Reserve is justifiably described as one of Knysna’s best-hidden gems and known as the “green” heart of Knysna. A 10-hectare nature reserve only a couple of minutes’ walk from the Main Road, here you can take a two-hour walk and the experience is like being teleported to a faraway place surrounded by nature.
A view to write home about
Follow the meandering trails through the forest, past the ponds, over the streams to the fynbos and the reserve’s highest point, where the view over the town and across the water to the distant Knysna Heads is the ultimate reward.
The reserve falls within the Cape Floral Kingdom, which, with its 8,600 plant species, is one of the world’s richest floral kingdoms. The reserve was severely damaged by the 2017 Knysna fires, but the plant life, especially the endangered Garden Route Shale Fynbos, has regenerated with new species to the site identified, increasing the number of species noted to 380.
A sanctuary for animal life
In the past, the reserve served as a brickfield and evolved into an informal dumping ground, infested with alien invasive plant species. In the late 1980s, concerned citizens cleared the alien vegetation and began restoration of the sterile landscape to its natural state. Birdlife had been essentially non-existent but in the early 1990s, some 47 species were recorded while by the end of the 1990s, some 80 species had been sighted, with the tally now 101! With the various vegetation types and habitats within the reserve you are guaranteed to come across some of these species You might see the famous Knysna Loerie in all its glory, or even the very shy and threatened Knysna Warlber.
Animal life is evident with small mammals, such as the Grysok, porcupine, mongoose, spotted genet; reptiles; amphibians; and many insects and other invertebrates..
Open 7 days a week
The reserve is open weekdays from 8am to 5pm, and weekends and holidays from 8am to 4pm. The entrance fee is R30 for adults and R10 for children, and permits are available at the entry kiosk in the reserve.
For more information please visit http://www.pledgenaturereserve.org/.
Steenbok Nature Reserve
Steenbok Nature Reserve is on Leisure Island, approximately 4km from Knysna town, a small detour on the way to the Knysna Heads.
Once a nine-hole golf course, it was converted to a nature reserve in the 1990s. The 17-hectare reserve is an open grassland that stretches all the way to the salt marshes and then the sea and is a mixture of original salt marsh, coastal dune and coastal thicket vegetation while it also boasts an indigenous garden featuring flora representative of the Garden Route coastal regions.
Wide variety of fauna & flora
It is a much-loved destination for families, and especially young kids. It is a cricket and soccer pitch for the children, a favourite picnic sport and a large alien tree (Myoporum tenuifolium) has been retained as a jungle gym for the younger kids. There are board walks to explore from and a little sandy beach for the kids to play. It is also a popular spot for anglers, and a favourite with dog walkers. It’s free and it’s a fabulous walk.
For more information email hollis@icon.co.za or phone +27 82 442 9290.
