Installation of boardwalk over sensitive ghost frog habitat. Table Mountain Ghost Frog Table Mountain is home to the Table Mountain Ghost Frog, an exceedingly rare and elusive frog species which is found only in a small area on the top of Table Mountain, and nowhere else on earth. This fascinating and unique frog species is under threat of extinction, and indeed is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation (IUCN). The frog breeds in small rocky pools, requiring clear water with only limited quantities of sand and silt. Some of the pools used by the frog are crossed by mountain paths. Erosion from excessive human foot traffic can cause unnaturally large amounts of sand to be transported into the streams, threatening the viability of these breeding sites. The solution to the problem is to build boardwalks to decrease erosion around the streams. In response to a request for assistance from the Cape Research Centre of SANParks, the SHR designed, constructed and installed a boardwalk over a stream in the Valley of Red Gods area of Table Mountain. This boardwalk will minimise the impact of hiking foot traffic and will allow the ghost frogs to breed more successfully. This is the first of what will hopefully be a number of similar projects, and the experience gained in the construction of this first boardwalk will be valuable in future works on the construction of more complicated boardwalks in other sites used by the frog. After securing a large grant from the Scheinberg family, the SANParks Honorary Rangers of Table Mountain Region were able to attend to many heavily used footpaths in Table Mountain National Park. 116 SANParks Honorary Rangers 2024 TABLE MOUNTAIN FOOTPATH WORK Members’ activities continued
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