Lobby group Friends of Table Mountain (FOTM) has raised the alarm regarding the steady destruction of Table Mountain National Park’s (TMNP) limited and treasured indigenous forests.
Two areas of concern have been raised:
1. Newlands Forest:
The first case is Newlands Forest which is slowly but steadily being decimated due to bark stripping. The bark is stripped off indigenous trees by poachers and sold to traditional healers.
Also read: Local trees in danger due to bark stripping
Unfortunately, entire trees are being ring-barked which results in their demise. Whilst some poachers have been caught, the bark stripping is continuing and serious concerns are being raised by local activists about the permanent and significant damage being done to Newlands Forest.
2. Echo Valley, Kalk Bay
The second case is the lesser-known but equally important afro-montane indigenous forests above Kalk Bay in Echo Valley. FOTM was alerted to the issue and asked Prof Edmund February from UCT’s Dept of Biological Sciences, to investigate.
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Prof February confirmed that a substantial amount of the indigenous trees have either been cut down completely or have had branches removed. He further said that although these trees are small, they can be several decades old and it would take a long time to recover from the damage.
The damage is situated close to rock shelters and “it is clear that cave dwellers are cutting down live trees in order to use as firewood in the future once it has dried,” FOTB said. Locals have allegedly reported that these caves, above Kalk Bay, are particularly busy on weekends.
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“Friends of Table Mountain’s priority is the safety and protection of the TMNP area – protecting visitors and the fauna and flora. The group has proposed the security recommendations, and believes that they ‘will have an impact on preventing this wholesale destruction of the TMNP indigenous forest'”.
Security recommendations by FOTM:
- Proactive ranger patrols: “SANParks rangers need to patrol these hotspots, particularly at night when these environmental crimes take place. It would be very easy for SANParks to police the few entrances to these areas, particularly at night and on weekends.”
- Use of K9 unit: “SANParks need to use their K9 unit more effectively with this problem, especially at night when the dogs’ senses are far better equipped for detecting suspicious people.”
- Continuous use of monitoring technology: “The use of cameras with night vision capabilities and 24/7 monitoring will aid with the prevention of these problems. We recommend a system that is in place on all major access routes, with a standby team to act once any suspicious activity is picked up.”
- TMNP hotline: “FOTM has been calling for a hotline for some time now for the public to report suspicious activity directly to SANParks, like bark stripping and overnighting. FOTM has gone so far as to facilitate the community safety app BUZZER to SANParks for free, but to this date, SANParks has not acted on this offer.”
Cape {town} Etc contacted SANParks, who responded to these four points as follows:
With regards to proactive patrols, SANParks says that “various ranger teams have conducted and continue to carry out day time and night time patrols. They are able to keep track of where they work and what information is collected at the locations of response in order to maintain record of area coverage”.
- Tokai: 021 712 0527
- Kloofnek: 021 422 1601/2
- General emergency and after-hours: 086 110 6417
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Picture: Friends of Table Mountain / Facebook