Landscaping
SALI Awards
GICAL LANDSCAPING
WILDLIFE IN A MAN-MADE FOREST
Zimbali Coastal Forest Estate, KZN, South Africa.
Winner of the 2016 Tshala Plant Brokers Trophy for Environmental Landscape Work.
‘
Ecological landscaping’ is a term that can truly be applied to Zimbali Coastal
Forest Estate on the North Coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, where humans
and wildlife coexist. The wildlife on this estate has certainly managed to sustain
itself due to appropriate landscape management and maintenance practices, and
often to flourish in the forest pockets between the housing. Landscape contractor
Leitch Landscapes has been involved with property developers Tongaat Hulett
Developments at Zimbali for twenty years, in close collaboration with horticultural
consultant Geoff Nichols.
Nichols comments that Zimbali is in reality a large nature reserve with existing forest
areas where the footprints of the stands that were allowed to be cleared of vegetation
for houses were marked out with meticulous care. A large percentage of the housing,
however, is situated on ‘brownfield’ sites that were previously sugar cane fields and
a plantation of alien Casuarinas. These areas have over the years gradually been
revegetated with plants from the original forest types of the respective areas, Dune
Forest, Coastal Lowland Forest, Swamp Forest and wetlands. The 400ha site has 110ha
of natural Dune and Coastal Lowland Forest. The so-called man-made parts of the forest
have been developing and maturing so that they contribute to the conservation effort of
the estate as a whole.
The continued advancement of habitat value requires the planting of locally indigenous
species (that would have occurred on-site naturally) in the common areas. Homeowners
are required to follow the estate’s stringent regulations which enable the coexistence of
humans and wildlife. Residents are encouraged to plant locally indigenous species that
will feed and shelter wildlife and accelerate the establishment of natural vegetation.
There are residents that do not fully understand the ethos and environmental policies
of Zimbali. Nichols says that he sometimes has to remind these residents that it was the
forest ambience that enticed them to purchase at Zimbali in the first place.
Nichols has written a book on ‘gentle gardening at the Zimbali Coastal Estate: guide to
living in harmony with wildlife’ which recommends species. A few of the many species
of plants (see photographs) that are of particular value to wildlife and either grow easily
from seed or can be obtained locally from commercial nurseries are Justicia capensis
(Money Plant), a woodland shrub with glossy dark-green leaves which flowers all year
round; wasps and bees visit the flowers serving as food for insect-eating birds such as
Drongos and Flycatchers. The fast-growing, scrambling Hibiscus surattensis (Creeping
Prickly Wild Hibiscus) is a pioneer of disturbed areas and is browsed extensively by
Bushbuck on the edges of the clearings resulting from development at Zimbali. Canavalia
rosea (Beach-bean Canavalia) is a scrambling plant of the dunes with sweetly-scented
dark pink to purplish flowers, which has been planted near the beach at Zimbali.
Photographs: Carol Knoll
africandesignmagazine.com
59