The McGregor Magic Garden Festival is accessible worldwide! It will be launched online on the 25th September 2020, as part of South’s Africa Heritage Weekend celebrations. A packed programme of stimulating talks by renowned experts in their field, stunning virtual tours by drone of McGregor gardens, exhibitions of local art, and community projects.  

Some of the topics included are sustainable gardening, horticulture (food-growing), and fascinating Conservation facts about South Africa’s biodiversity.

The Unmissable Guest Speakers

Keith Kristen who is a nationally recognized expert in horticulture

Leon Kluge leading designer representing South Africa at World Flower Shows

Werner Voigt the curator of Kirstenbosch Gardens

Raymond Auerbach professor on Organic practices

John Moodie a leading bee expert and honey farmer

Visit the Mc Gregor Magic website to buy a Festival Pass!

And their Facebook page: McGregor Magic Open Garden Festival for more videos, photos, and to learn about their community projects

As part of the educational programme, the CWBR took the children who created Kids Garden in Mc Gregor on a day outing to De Hoop Nature Reserve.

Check out the video to see the days activities and moments captured by the kids behind the camera.

“Youth have the creativity, the potential and the capacity to make change happen – for themselves, for their communities, and for the rest of the world”.

 ~ UNESCO Website

In alignment with this UNESCO vision the CWBR has created a Youth Board represented by an enthusiastic and vibrant team … Watch this space!

The Cape Floristic Region is located near the southern tip of and entirely within the borders of South Africa. It is the only floristic region of the Cape Floristic Kingdom.. The Region covers the Mediterranean climatic region of South Africa in the Western Cape in the southwestern corner of the country, and extends eastward into the Eastern CapeThe Cape Floristic Region, the smallest of the six recognised floral kingdoms of the world and is an area of extraordinarily high diversity and endemism and is home to over 9,000 vascular plant species, of which 69 percent are endemic (occur nowhere else on earth). Much of this diversity is associated with the fynbos biome, a Mediterranean-type, fire-adapted shrubland.

Most of the region is covered with fynbos, a sclerophyllous shrubland occurring on acid sands or nutrient-poor soils derived from Table Mountain sandstones (Cape Supergroup). Fynbos is home to a diverse plethora of plant species including many members of the protea family (Proteaceae), heath family (Ericaceae), and reed family of restios (Restionaceae).

Currently the main threats to this area are the transformation of natural habitat, through urbanisation, agriculture and mining, the invasion by alien plant species and the occurrence of too frequent wild fires. (Fynbos needs burn regularly but the interval must not be shorter that the slowest maturing proteas in order for them to produce sufficient seed. This interval can vary depending on the rainfall and the species of protea occurring in the area but is generally accepted to be in the region of 15 years). This situation is made worse by Global Climate Change which appears to benefit the invasive alien plants due to higher Co2 levels, thus creating a very high fuel load in a relatively short period of time. This then creates opportunity for too frequent and more intense wild fires. This higher intensity has several negative impacts including the destruction of the fynbos soil stored seed, leading to local extinction of species relying on this method of propagation. The extreme heat can also change the soils water absorbency properties and lead to accelerated erosion.

Protea Family

Erica Family

Restio Family

The CWBR has created a short film, on The Health and Nutrition Programme, which has been featured as part of UNESCO’s Proud to Share campaign. The video has been published on the UNESCO website and available to view on several social media platforms.

Links to featured video:

UNESCO Facebook Youtube Twitter

All around the world, incredible people are working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The #ProudToShare campaign by UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) aims to share their stories and show how communities are making a difference in Biosphere Reserves.

The CWBR is joining McGregor Magic this year which takes place on Heritage weekend in September 2020. This year the festival will be streamed online, hosting online guided garden tours, floral workshops, panel discussions, and talks by local and internationally recognized experts in fauna, flora, and conservation. The festival celebrates nature’s magic in springtime when the indigenous splendor of flora in McGregor blooms.

Every year, a garden competition is launched in the newly built community to support the greening of their spaces and provide infrastructure for self-sufficiency. A thought-provoking and challenging task to take on, as McGregor is in a succulent Karoo, an arid area in a rain shadow.

As part of the Health and Nutrition Programme, the CWBR will supply thirty gardens with 8000 vegetable seedlings that include broccoli, cabbage, and kale to help realize the greening and food security.

During the stay in McGregor this week, the CWBR team were introduced to an inspiring garden created by a group of children who started their own project to keep busy while schools are closed.

The space, which they named Kids Farm, has succulents, and rose cuttings given to them by people in the community. Together, the children designed the garden, collected materials to realize their vision and prepared the space. Turning the dusty earth and digging into the ground (as hard as concrete) to establish a table where they can sit and socialize in daytime. The children, taking great pride in their garden, water the plants every day, and continue to add to the space together.

Proving that anything can be possible, with determination and vision.

Follow McGregor Magic on Facebook to see updates on the programme.

Grass and flowers adorn the inside

A winner from last years competition.

A garden four years in the making

Across the street, an initiate by the children, who have beautified the neighborhood with their own vision of a garden

Proud of their achievement

Designed by the children

Working together to create the space