South Africa's Iconic Protea Flower Relocates As Climate Warms

ETVBHARAT

The King Protea, South Africa’s national flower and the official emblem of the upcoming G20 summit in Johannesburg, is under growing threat from climate change.

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00:00As climate change threatens their native habitat, proteas are now blooming far from home, on

00:14a farm determined to keep them alive.

00:17On his farm in Kulinan, Niko has cultivated thousands of vibrant proteas, bright orange,

00:24pink and yellow over 1,500 kilometers from their native Cape mountain slopes.

00:30Among them is the king protea, South Africa's national flower.

00:36A national symbol, it appears on currency, sports jerseys and now as the emblem of the

00:42upcoming G20 summit in Johannesburg.

00:46But this iconic bloom is under threat.

00:49Nearly half of South Africa's protea species face extinction.

00:54Climate change, invasive species, habitat loss and altered fire cycles are contributing

01:00to their extinction.

01:02As temperatures rise and rainfall patterns shift, scientists warn that many species won't survive

01:08in the wild.

01:10The solution, they say, may lie in artificial cultivation, growing proteas in greenhouses or specially managed

01:17farms.

01:18The ones on mountain tops may survive, it depends on how able they are to migrate to

01:24higher altitudes.

01:25But if it gets too hot and too dry, many, many species, not just proteas, are going to die.

01:32We're looking at a completely different vegetation type in the field.

01:35The only solution would be really to do some sort of artificial intervention, cultivate them

01:40in greenhouses or if you grow them in the wild to make sure that you provide extra water for

01:45example if it's a drought.

01:47Niko is already ahead of the curve.

01:50Through decades of trial and error, he is growing close to 200 protea varieties on his land.

01:57His latest experiment involves 36 varieties planted with just 2 litres of water retaining gel, no

02:05additional irrigation.

02:07I have 36 varieties in this experiment.

02:10So we planted them in the beginning of the summer rainfall season just with 2 litres of

02:18gel, saturated gel and we never gave them any other water.

02:26Some will die and then I know these ones, they are not adapted with just leaving them without

02:35water but there are some that will definitely survive.

02:39Some may die, but the survivors could represent the future of this ancient plant family in

02:44a warming world.

02:45It's a beautiful flower, so our cricket team is the proteas, our spring box have a nice protea

02:56on it so I think protea are part of our South Africa's DNA.

03:04I love them, I protect them, I collect them.

03:08The protea is part of South Africa's DNA, Niko said.

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