The entire Namibian escarpment, which stretches in a ragged, rugged, sometimes broken line across the length of the country and beyond it, is a broad band of terrestrial endemism. That means that many of the lifeforms of this area have evolved to become unique and occur only here and nowhere else on Earth. Numerous species of birds, reptiles and mammals are endemic to the Namibian escarpment. Yet, (not counting insects) plants offer the greatest number of uniquely Namibian – and often uniquely Kaoko – species. The ‘Kaoko Floral Diversity Conservancy Side-Track’ focuses on some of these, as well as other fascinating features of the Orupembe and Sanitatas Conservancies. Conservancy Side-Tracks are newlyestablished tourism routes that have been developed to enhance visitor experiences in communal conservancies. The routes are identified in collaboration with the local communities, giving them a more direct stake in guiding tourism traffic onto preferred, locally authorised tracks. The proceeds from the sale of the Side-Track route brochures (available in Windhoek, Swakopmund and in the Orupembe Conservancy) are reinvested into community conservation initiatives. The routes encourage local exploration, rather than simply rushing from one celebrated destination to the next.
TWELVE INTERESTING PLANTS: Bushman poison, Adenium boehmianum Bottle tree, Pachypodium lealii Paper-bark euphorbia, Euphorbia guerichiana Purple-stem corkwood, Commiphora multijuga Large-leaved sesame-tree, Sesamothamnus leistneri 6. Moringa, Moringa ovalifolia 7. African star-chestnut, Sterculia africana 8. Candelabra euphorbia, Euphorbia virosa 9. Large-leaved sterculia, Sterculia quinqueloba 10. Herero sesame-tree, Sesamothamnus guerichii 11. Blue-leaved corkwood, Commiphora glaucescens 12. Kaoko tree-euphorbia, Euphorbia eduardoi 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
EIGHT NEAR-ENDEMIC BIRDS: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Monteiro’s Hornbill Damara Hornbill White-tailed Shrike Rosy-faced Lovebird Rüppell’s Parrot Bare-cheeked Babbler Violet Wood-hoopoe Rüppell’s Korhaan
The Orupembe and Sanitatas Conservancies and adjacent areas are considered a localised hotspot of particularly high plant endemism. Some species are known from only here. Between 25 and 35 endemic or nearendemic plant species have been recorded for the area. Near-endemic means that the range of the species does not fall entirely within Namibia’s borders – animals and plants pay scant attention to such man-made delineations. The species are endemic to this special part of the world, but range marginally into Angola, where the habitat remains similar for a good northward stretch.
Paper-bark euphorbia (Euphorbia guerichiana)
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Bottle tree (Pachypodium lealii)