The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) said on Tuesday that it had erected a fence to protect the world's smallest desert, the Red Desert, which lies 170 kilometres south of Durban, after a request from private owners of the nature reserve in which it is located.
Only 200 meters in diameter and resembling a miniature version of the Arizona Desert in the United States, the man-high hills and valleys of naked red soil bare stark contrast to the surrounding lush and tropical vegetation.
The Red Desert gets its name from the scarlet colour of the sand and is situated on a hillside overlooking the Mtamvuna River which divides KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, near the Wild Coast Sun casino complex.
Archaeological artefacts going back millions of years can be found and the locals have welcomed its new status as an internationally-protected heritage site.
The origins of this Desert are found in the location of a Zulu tribe in the 1800's, with vast cattle herds stolen from the Pondos. The terrain became severely overgrazed and subsequently eroded by wind, resulting in wind-sculpted dune formations. The underlying soil has very high iron content which does not allow vegetation to thrive.
The area contains a significant area of "critically endangered" Pondoland-Natal Sandstone Coastal Sourveld found nowhere else in the country. The Red Desert Nature Reserve also comprises several habitats ranging from coastal marine, grasslands, coastal forests, swamp forests, krantzes, desert and riverine to wetland.
SANRAL's eastern region design and construction manager Ravi Ronny said the discussion about erecting the fencing had been ongoing since 2014.
"Given the environmental importance of the nature reserve, we agreed to erect a fence along the reserve’s boundary with the road at our cost. The fence will help keep animals away from the busy N2 whilst also combating trespassing and plant poaching problems," Ronny said.
Ronny also said this section of the R61 was being upgraded at an estimated cost of R2.5 billion and will see the improved road becoming the "new N2".
- African News Agency (ANA)
