Nosilla Ethnobotanical Gardens

Environmental Consultants & Assessments

Profile

The Nosilla Ethnobotanical Garden is situated in the province of the rising sun, Mpumalanga, South Africa. It lies between the towns of White River and Hazyview, not far from the provincial capital Nelspruit. The garden area encompasses the endangered Legogote Sour Bushveld biome watershed of the Klipkopje and De Gama Dams. These areas which make up the reserve have a rich historical and floral heritage. Nosilla itself is a registered section 21 non profit (Pty) Ltd company and has the aim of conserving the indigenous floral heritage of the area. Many of the plants in the area are under threat and are in imminent danger of extinction if no action is taken.

Nosilla aims to not only protect and conserve these threatened species for subsequent generations of both South Africa and the world, but also to explore the economic potential inherent in these very species. Any number of the species found in this area contains liminoid substances which could potentially be used for pharmaceutical products.

Nosilla has a number of secondary aims, these include addressing the water shortages in the area, developing rootstock of the indigenous plant species, the creation of a Seed Bank for the mass propagation of indigenous medicinal plants, the removal of the alien vegetation that now dominates the area earmarked for the reserve and the re-introduction of indigenous plants to their natural habitat. The Garden will be a centre of floral research and a knowledge bank of South African floral species. The sharing of the information gained from the scientific research carried out at Nosilla will be used to increase public awareness and educate both foreign and local visitors. An eco-agricultural project will also be initiated at Nosilla and this project will serve as a model project aligned with the Provincial Heritage, Greening Mpumalanga and Tourism Flagship Project and will be considered to be an anchor project for the Green Rural Tourism Route being developed by the Mpumalanga Provincial Government.

A group of qualified conservationists and a research team with experience in the propagation of indigenous South African medicinal plants will be stationed at Nosilla and work under the Nosilla umbrella. Many of these species that will be re-introduced are highly endangered as a result of the overuse of medicinal plants in South Africa. This overexploitation of the medicinal plants in South Africa can be traced to the AIDS pandemic since many of the populace have resorted to the use of medicinal plants out of sheer desperation. This same team of experts is currently developing an integrated environmental management plan for the reserve area. All members of the team are passionately dedicated to the conservation and propagation of the plants suitable to the biome of the reserve.