Threatened Wildflower Wonder

Once a year, in the African spring, a dry and barren area in South Africa's Northern Cape, called Namaqualand, turns into a lush and luminant carpet of wildflowers. Tourists come from all over South Africa, Europe and even Japan to witness this natural spectacle.

But nobody knows how long we will still be able to experience the phenomenon. Environmental experts warn that changing rainfall and temperature patterns caused by climate change will soon diminish the vastness of flowers of Namaqualand, which is one of the world's top biodiversity hot spots. Already, many of the 1350 different flower species that can be found here are either rare or threatened by extinction.

Last weekend, I drove up to Nieuwoudtville, Namaqualand's bulb capital, to observe the flower spectacle. I spoke to various ecologists, botanists and climate change experts to find out about the true state of affairs of the flower kingdom and how long we will still be able to enjoy the phenomenon. The article will be published in The Weekender this Saturday.