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Environmental Issues of Cape Town Tree, Forest and Fynbos Myths
Follow The Money An Urban Park for All Copyright Urban Forest Protection Group |
 Hikers at Constantia Nek Please click here to read our proposal for Tokai and Cecilia forests ! Most Capetonians still don't understand what the consequences are. In the Southern suburbs it will look like on the moon. These forests are used and loved by many and are now becoming especially important in Cape Town due rapid densification of our urban environment around table mountain. People want the forests and we see them as a national asset and JUST AS IMPORTANT AS BIODIVERSITY and Fynbos.........This is an Urban Park with massive urban needs for shade and forest and trees. Table mountain national park is much more than just a BIO-RESERVE its not a Kruger Park. This site is not about negating indigenous forest or plants! Its about preserving what very little forest is left now! Campaign petitions and posters are available to download off the site,- photocopy and distribute,- Immediate ACTION and SUPPORT is needed ASAP!SANPARKS took control of the table mountain national park, giving us many of promises that they would accommodate the local urban needs of the people of Cape Town. There has been NO public participation until now! They got through the door with the intention of a BIO-RESERVE and it appears that there is no respect whatsoever for our heritage needs over here ...be it Deer ..be it Thar's ...be it foreigner species trees...The anti Alien campaign seems to have gone mad !The forests occupy around a mere 2% (previously 1000ha) against approx 98% Fynbos (43,000ha) ....and provide massive recreational & heritage value to the people of Cape Town. Most of our shady walk ways are under foreigner species trees. The anger is that many beautiful trees have now been ring barked and to many this is now about DAMAGE Control. Sanparks arrogance and deceptiveness and attitude has deeply angered the local people here that one wonders how the average person now perceives nature conservation in South Africa. But who knows the inner story....There must be holistic thinkers in SANPARKS who can truly accommodate a park for ALL...NOT JUST SOME! Where are they ?What about a PARK for the people ? What about doing their utmost to make south Africans fall in love with our natural heritage ? Make nature conservation about enabling all south Africans to affordably reach the wilderness and enjoy it ? Then Conservation will look after itself. Nature conservation in SA is becoming more and more elitist. Its cheaper to go over-seas than stay even just for a few days now in many reserves. People joke here...how do you get the con out of conservation ? There is canned hunting of al animals packaged as conservation to. Of course we all know that in many of the reserves "sustainable conservation practice" is just a branding word. State conservation bodies should be doing their best to make Public nature reserves and trails and wilderness experiences as easily available to south Africans as possible but now they are even renting (concession'ing ) accommodation places in the reserves out to private business which puts the prices in the stratosphere! A holiday in the bush is now out of reach for most south Africans. And of course sometimes you have to book YEARS in advance! A terrible mistake to have given Table Mountain to SANPARKS ....They now have the "CROWN JEWEL" of the city of Cape Town. Its the signature of Cape Town running into the marrow of our lives....They talk of a hundred year vision to re-cultivate indigenous forests ? Already we are banned from ORANGE KLOOF and have to apply for a permit to get in and already the shade areas are buckling under the feet of the masses on ....THERE IS NO WAY that the indigenous forest will cover the same surface area as the forestry operations of foreigner species forest today. NEW ARTICLE SEP 27. What's cape Town going to be like in 20 years, never mind a hundred years.....The masses of people looking for shade or a south Easter proof environment at the moment can barely be met by the tiny 2% remaining forests. Some people are not interested in FYNBOS. Some prefer the beach, some prefer the forests and some prefer this new world BIOME called shopping malls and some don't care! Some simply want a picnic with their family in the shade like they did at SILVERMINE or simply the deep heart warming joy and satisfaction of seeing their dogs happy & free, wagging their tails and bouncing around outdoors (Not crammed in crowded "Dog-Zone" and forced onto leashes) Different strokes for different folks! Are decisions for our urban habitat and natural environment around Cape Town based on the Botanical Society or on a civil society? |
LETTER BY PROFESSOR GEORGE ELLIS UCT What you won't be doing on weekends anymore!
Many Capetonians don't seem to realise that they days of their forest walks and picnics in the greater Cape Town area are numbered. We are shortly to lose Cecelia Forest and Tokai Forest for example. You will no longer be able to walk in forest shade on a hot summer's day, nor shelter from the wind and rain on a cold winters day, except in a few minuscule areas of Afro-Montane forest that will be all that remains in the near future. Yes these are mainly commercial plantations and so subject to periodic harvesting, but that does not have to be done all at once, and crucially the present plan is not to replant: they will be gone forever. There are of course a significant number of people supporting the destruction of our beautiful plantations. But there are a great many more opposed to this extraordinarily destructive action. Consider the following: * The underlying attitude is extraordinarily extremist. In the CPNP, 4% of the area is `alien’ plantations and 96 % is Fynbos. The extremists have a Xenophobic need to exterminate to the last - to destroy that 4% in order to attain 100% Fynbos . I myself love Fynbos – I am co-owner of one of the best privately owned Fynbos tracts in the peninsula - but 96% suffices: it does not have to be 100%. Yes of course invasive species need to be controlled and prevented from spreading, that is not what this forest destruction is about. * This whole philosophy is arbitrarily inconsistent. If you are going to destroy all alien trees, to be consistent you should also destroy all rose gardens, wheat-fields, vineyards, buildings, roads, and indeed remove all `alien’ people (including those carrying out this destruction): they should all go according to this philosophy. Why take it out on trees? From my view point, inclusion of all these `aliens’ in our environment enriches it. * These forests are long term part of our cultural heritage, adding greatly to the beauty and amenity of the area, and properly understood, historical and cultural resources fall within the scope of the natural environment. Because this is so, South African heritage resources are subject to the protection and conservation measures offered under national and international law (http://www.criticalmethods.org/p108.mv). Thus this destruction is probably illegal unless a proper impact assessment is carried out first to evaluate the effect of such large scale destruction of part of our cultural heritage. * These forests have been a public amenity for the better part of a century, and are increasingly used by people from the townships of Cape Town. There is virtually no shade in these townships; having access to shaded picnic spots may not be a big deal to the privileged few who live in leafy suburbs like Constantia but it is a major benefit for those who do not. * If you look at this in political terms, it is yet again the choice of a small fraction of the white elite dominating what happens and causing a major loss of amenity not only to those who disagree with them in their own community but to the majority of poorer people from other communities in the city. They are not being given a say as to whether this will happen or not. No well-publicised open public hearing process has been undertaken. * As such, it is a highly authoritarian and coercive action on the part of a few. It allows no option. Those who don’t like the forests don’t have to walk in them; they can walk in the 96% of the CPNP that is Fynbos. But they want to prevent me and all who think like me - who love the beauty of these forests - from even having the option of appreciating them and rejoicing in the shade and the magnificence of those tall trees. They want to remove from me a wonderful possibility I have had all my life. * And when they succeed what will happen? On scorching hot days when walkers like myself seek protection from the sun under shade, it will place a huge extra load on the few afro-montane forest areas that will remain. There will be dense queues along all the paths in those few remaining patches of forest, and standing room only in the few remaining shady picnic areas. So how will the authorities handle this overload? By selling permits of course – even more restricting access to these areas, limiting those who can benefit from them. A privileged few will have taken away a precious public amenity from all their poorer fellow citizens. The felling of these forests should be stayed as a matter of urgency until public opinion in the matter has been properly canvassed and a proper impact assessment has taken place that takes cultural heritage into account. For a wonderful website (with beautiful pictures) making the case for saving these forests, please see http://www.coolforest.org.za/. George Ellis Kenilworth
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