....And so it go's.....

I simply dont have the time to format these pages so I am just copying and pasting from a local newspaper... (sorry this is just to much work)...at least you can get the picture...The fanatics have got such a grip on the authoroties here in Cape Town that they can now kill old OAK trees. This is INSANITY. Trees planted by people who knew they would never see them as big trees. The generosity of spirit they had when they planted these young oaks means nothing to the stingy and selfish shallow beings who call themselves scientists. Decades of slow growth demolished in seconds,- sometimes even more than a centuary gone in a few minutes... 

How tragic that a healthy campaign against alien invadors now has roped in old Oak trees!! We could all laugh at this like a Monty Python / John CLeese movie if it were not so tragic!

 It takes 100 years for an Oak tree to grow into a "teenager"!!

'I mourn for the oaks'

VemaGrayJokai

The despicable  destruction of the heritage oaks in Ou Wingerd Road has been matched by what seems to me to be the excessive zeal of the Table Mountain Parks Board management ("Heritage oaks get the chop," October 22). In the interests of Riverine Conservation, seven of our beautiful oaks in all their spring glory on the banks of the seasonal Prinseskasteel stream that runs through the Tokai forest and under Spaanschemat Road, have just been ring-barked.

It's the oaks on the mountain side of the road that have just been desecrated. While on the other side, over the years, a number of other oaks have also been eliminated and left to stand as grim, skeletal, reminders of what was once an enchanting paradise for countless numbers of people who regularly walk or walk their dogs along the stream in the forest. I walk my dog daily from Forest Glade and the highlight of the walk through the pines that destroy every vestige of growth under them except fungi, has been the stream with these gracious oak trees on mossy banks.

I was horrified the other day to find a very nice young man with a panga, employed by the Parks Board, chopping carelessly away at the bark at the base of an oak like any common vandal. Too late. Six others had already been similarly hijacked. Sixty year to a hundred plus year old trees condemned to death in a single day

While admirably providing work for the unemployed and removing invasive alien vegetation, one would have expected some sign of perspective in not destroying these gracious oaks. One day's work for one man and all this beauty gone.

When asked why this was done the official reply was that this was a conservation area and the oaks were invasive. Even Kirstenbosch, with its magnificent indigenous gardens, have not removed their heritage oaks and have several glorious specimens hundreds of years old.

Is this not a case of excessive zeal on the part of the Parks Board?

Should someone not stand up and say enough. Let's try and preserve all that we can of what is true, noble, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy.

For me, these trees I mourn were a daily source of unspeakable joy Not only to me though, but for many who walk the forest and need respite from the grim reality of so much ugliness, vandalism, pollution, poverty, greed, selfishness, suffering, violence and corruption in our world.

The Table Mountain National Park, somewhat like Groot Constantia, is public property. This brings on the management of these properties the obligation to manage these properties in the best interests of the public. Does this not include protecting not only the unique floral kingdom of the Peninsula but also unique, historical aspects like our heritage oaks as well?

Caroline Magrath, Ou Wingerd Road, High Constantia

With reference to your article I would like to comment accordingly.

As a resident of Ou Wingerd Pad, Constantia which borders Groot Constantia Estate, I am in complete agreement with Mr Patel's comments on this matter.

Gina Clifford-Holmes has lived in the area for 14 years and is very well versed on the regulations with regards to tree felling. The shift of responsibility onto tree felling company is a weak and inefficient excuse for not taking responsibility for her own actions. Tree felling in an area which is not owned by you, is very clearly a transgression of the law, and claiming ignorance thereof is not a valid excuse. The company Tree Fellers, owned by Shaun McMahon, who chopped down these trees is their neighbour, and he himself has lived next to the Estate for over 20 years. Surely both these parties where clearly aware of how precious these trees are to our National Heritage, as well as the already threatened natural environment?

Both these parties should be held accountable for their simply destructive actions, for purely financial gain. The only problem is that you cannot replicate 100-year-old trees. They have in fact destroyed a part our historical past by their deliberate violation of chopping down those beautiful trees. I therefore would implore both parties, to try and remedy this heinous act in some small capacity by replanting large established oak trees in their place.

Sadly, as the Constantia community we have lost irreplaceable trees, but in future, we should act more swiftly and aggressively towards these transgressors, hi closing to quote Gina Clifford-Holmes own words, "I look forward to some action with teeth to uphold sensible regulations, or does money really talk?"

• MrsMagratisa resident who supports the Save Constantia Valley campaign.

AND THEN A RESPONSE IN A LATER EDITION OF BULLETIN by,  I am assuming, - one of the key people in charge of this Campaign against  the "Alien Invadors"

Old oaks must go

Tony Rebelo, Bergvliet

Verna Gray's emotional diatribe "I mourn for the oaks," October 29) against the removal of alien invasive plants is unfortunately misplaced. A distinction must be made between oaks that are part of our cultural heritage and those that are invasive and a threat to our natural ecosystems. It needs to be stated clearly that all alien invasive species must be removed from wetland and natural ecosystems: no alien plants may be allowed within 15-100m of any major watercourse. Several laws regulate this: CARA (Control of Agricultural Resources Act)andNEMBA (National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act) are the most critical. Furthermore, there were many good reasons why SAFCOL pulled out of the Western Cape, leaving the exiting of plantations to the caretaker MTO (Mountains to Oceans), One of them being that the environmental requirements (ISO14001) for export to Europe requires that no alien invasives or plantation species are allowed within 15m of any wetland or watercourse.

SANParks is our premier conservation agency: more so than any other body or landowner, it should be setting a clear example in ensuring that the threatened riparian ecosystems and Fynbos under its care are clear of all alien invasive gums, pines, oaks and anything else that transforms or destroys our threatened natural ecosystems.

The statement that Kirstenbosch has kept all its oaks is blatantly false. On the contrary, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens adheres to sound conservation management and every last oak in the natural areas of forest, Fynbos and riverine scrub at Kirstenbosch has been removed. Of course, the oaks in the gardens themselves are part of our historical legacy and are being preserved, as they should be. I hope that the same sanity will apply at Tokai. The oaks lining the Tokai Manor Road are obviously prime heritage - although I would like to see those within 15m of the Prinskasteel River removed, otherwise they will continue dumping acorns into the river and thus constitute a continuous threat to the ecosystems downriver. Similarly those in the Tokai Arboretum are of profound historical, agroforestry and heritage importance.

Outside of these two areas within the Tokai section of the Table Mountain National Park, oaks are just weeds and aliens and should be removed from natural areas as soon as reasonably possible. That does not mean that all oaks at Tokai need to be removed: in border areas and areas where they do not interfere with natural ecosystem processes, they can be tolerated.

The shaded walk between Tokai and the Ondertuine is a prime example: they are not in the ecosystem and outside the firebelts that will be needed to control fire.

Provided that a means can be found to prevent their acorns being washed into the Soetvlei wetland, there is no reason why even more oaks not be planted to complete the lane (although I should prefer male yellowwoods). I am sure that the Table Mountain National Park will continue to look after both our threatened natural heritage as well as our cultural heritage. Where the two come into conflict, I hope that SANParks will remember that the reason why it is on the Peninsula is because our natural heritage is of international significance and under dire threat: 250 Peninsula plant species are listed on the threatened RJCN Red List, and 183 plant species occur nowhere else on earth. There are plenty of places in Tokai, rhe Constantia Valley and the world to preserve pretty oaks: there is nowhere else on earth where the lowland Fynbos of the Peninsula can be conserved.

To allow a weed to threaten the last remnants of the critically endangered Cape Flats sand fynbos is utterly unacceptable. To argue that 100 year oaks deserve more attention than 500-year old wabooms or common conebushes, is simply ridiculous. Our natural heritage is an integral part of our cultural heritage as well.

  Click these picture s for these articles - front page in our local bulletins....