THE BOOK
The Enchanted Wilderness captures the excitement of the Richtersveld, an unspoilt African haven home to many unique species of plant and animal life.
Located in the north west corner of South Africa, with the Orange River as its northern boundary. It is South Africa's only true desert and in this book, the first ever devoted to the Richtersveld, Graham Williamson reveals the secrets of this hauntingly beautiful area.
The landscape is vividly described - from its great sand plains to the rugged mountains that change dramatically with the varying light of day and seasons of the year.
The Richtersveld boasts the highest bio-diversity of succulent plants in the world. The evolution of the plants is such that some of them are endemic to areas measured in square metres rather than hectares, or confined to a single gorge or mountain ridge.
Original thoughts and observations fill the chapters on the plants, where the author brings habitats, pollination, flowers and evolution to life. The section on the plants is complemented by over 600 colour pictures. A checklist of more than 1 700 plants is also included.
The inhospitable Richtersveld landscape is home to numbers of spectacular bulbs that miraculously burst forth during the hot summer months whilst in winter, annual growth, in response to moisture condensation, carpets the vlakte with a kaleidoscope of brilliant colour.
Further chapters cover the fossil sites, the weather and the geology, with its ancient rocks and jagged mountains dating back more than 2 000 million years.
The Richtersveld is also home to the last remaining traditional nomadic herders in South Africa who are sympathetically described and photographed.
The epilogue discusses the environmental status of the Richtersveld from prehistoric times to the present, and puts the onslaught by man into this fragile ecosystem, into perspective.
This book is a guide to tempt the traveler, a source book for the history of the people and the geology of the area and a cornucopia of the fauna and flora with illustrations of succulent plants, insects, reptiles and mammals.
The author and his wife are uniquely qualified, having spent more than 20 years exploring the Richtersveld. Their love of this 'enchanted wilderness' shines through in their enthusiasm for the vast open spaces and remote valleys.
The book is lavishly illustrated and is a must for all lovers of wild and unspoilt areas of the world.
THE AUTHOR
Hailed by the Cactus and Succulent Society of America with the citation "Intrepid explorer, conservationist, author, artist and discoverer and describer of new taxa", Zimbabwean born Graham Williamson spent his childhood roaming the wild granite hills of east Harare and herding cattle on his parent's smallholding.
Bent on a career in botany or zoology, he discovered that the opportunities for natural scientists were limited, so he switched to dentistry, graduating BDS from Wits University, Johannesburg.
He set up a private practice in Zambia, where he spent ten years researching the Orchids of South Central Africa which was published in1978. His collections of succulent Euphorbias helped in the description of new species or elucidation of more than half of the Zambian Euphorbias.
After moving to South Africa, he joined the Anglo American Corporation as Senior Dental Officer and was seconded to the Consolidated Diamond Mines at Oranjemund in Namibia.
While working on the diamond fields, he explored the Sperrgebeit (forbidden diamond area) and the previously restricted semi-arid Richtersveld mountain desert.
Later in life he completed an MSc. in botany at Wits University. On retiring from dentistry, CDM employed him as a botanical consultant with the responsibility for producing an environmental impact study of their mining area and exploring and recording the flora of the Sperrgebiet.
Graham and his wife Francoise are to date involved in environmental education and have led local and international tours. During 1993-94, they were the consultants to Sir David Attenborough on the Richtersveld section of his widely acclaimed Private Life of Plants.
While working as a volunteer in the Richtersveld National Park he produced a floral survey of the Park and the Richtersveld National Park guide booklet. He also acted as information officer and trained the local people as tourist guides.
Graham has received local and international awards for photography, artwork and botany. He was given the Bolus Award of the Botanical Society of South Africa and the Allen Dyer Award of the Succulent Society of South Africa. He has lectured in North America, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and has many publications to his name including major publications on Euphorbia and an account of the floral zones of the Sperrgebiet, southern Namib desert. His published descriptions to date comprise 64 new species and subspecies. Both he and his wife have been commemorated in the naming of succulent plants.
In retirement, Graham works as a botanist and artist based in Cape Town.
CONTENTS
- The Landscape - 16 pages
- The Ancient Rocks - 10 pages
- The Fossil Record - 8 pages
- History and the people - 14 pages
- The Queerest Climate - 8 pages
- The Heritage of Time - 24 pages
- Floristic Zones - 8 pages
- The Plants - 98 pages
- The Invertebrate Fauna - 15 pages
- The Vertebrate Fauna - 13 pages
- Epilogue - 6 pages
- Plant Checklist - 10 pages
- References - 3 pages
- Index - 9 pages
About
Richtersveld
