The City of Cape Town partnered with Nature Connect, an environmental education organisation, to support the Western Leopard Toad Underpass Project. Nature Connect initiated this special project and has installed six underpass tunnels along Peninsula Road that bisects the City’s False Bay Nature Reserve.
These tunnels are intended to assist the Endangered Western Leopard Toad to pass under the road and avoid being hit by cars, especially during their breeding season which is currently under way.
The City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews, went to see the completed tunnels at the reserve and met the Nature Connect team who have been championing this initiative.
The City of Cape Town’s Biodiversity Management branch and other departments provided expert advice and all the required permissions to allow for the construction of these tunnels for amphibian conservation.
‘The Nature Connect team in partnership with the City’s Biodiversity Management branch have completed the sixth tunnel along Peninsula Road in the Zeekoevlei Section of the False Bay Nature Reserve, just in time for the Western Leopard Toad breeding season. Peninsula Road has been particularly dangerous for these toads as they cross this road during their breeding season in the winter rainy months. Volunteers have often spotted the toads making use of the tunnels and the statistics have shown that there has been a clear decrease in toad road deaths along this road.’
‘The Western Leopard Toad is what one calls a flagship conservation species, and the plight of these charismatic animals helps to focus attention on the need for a healthy Cape Town biodiversity and well-functioning wetlands, which is key for the City as we work hard to conserve wildlife in our urban environment,’ said Alderman Eddie Andrews, the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment.
The Western Leopard Toad is an Endangered species. It is found only in the Western Cape region of South Africa.
Other areas in Cape Town where the Western Leopard Toad are found include Bergvliet; Clovelly; Constantia; Diep River; Fish Hoek; Glencairn; Grassy Park; Hout Bay; Kirstenhof; Kommetjie; Lakeside; Noordhoek; Observatory; Scarborough; Strandfontein and Tokai.
‘Between now and September, during breeding and migration season, road traffic poses the biggest threat to the Western Leopard Toads. We urge residents in these areas to please be cautious, and avoid driving over toads as they cross the roads to their breeding site,’ said Andrews.
This project was made possible through generous funding from Leisure Charitable Trust; Foundation Ensemble, Forvia Foundation and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund.
PHOTO: Alderman Eddie Andrews and Dr Anthony Roberts from Nature Connect at Zeekoevlei Nature Reserve
