An Urban Park for All Citizens

Follow The Money

Urban Forest Protection Group

The Value of the Timber

The Tokai and Cecilia forests were planted by SAFCOL,

which was a 100% Government owned company. The annual lease the State receives for the previously 1000 ha State owned pine forest today is R45,000 ! The market value of the timber could be up to ca. R 3,000,000,000 depending on the market price for timber !

A former SAFCOL manager confirms that the average growth of the local pine forest is about 15 - 18 m³/ha/year which would actually be lower than other data suggests, but still that would be worth ca. R 30 million a year !

However, the SAFCOL Board was asked to phase out its operations in the Western and Southern Cape and parts of the Eastern Cape in June 1999. We quote "government contended that these plantations were not economically viable as it had a return of less than 10 cubic metre hectares a year. This issue was raised at Cabinet level, and in September 1993, Cabinet approved in principle to remove approximately 45000 ha of State owned plantation land from further commercial forestry production under SAFCOL and to make the land available for conversion into other land uses..........."

How or from whom did they get this "less than 10 m³/ha/year" number ?

Maybe the forest was not economically viable because the Government was operating it ?

The math for the value of the harvested timber :

There are about 500 pine trees per ha, yielding a very conservative average of 3 cubic meters / tree, i.e. 1500 cubic meters of timber per ha.

1 m³ sells for ca. R2,000 (we called Cape Saw Mills for prices )
One hectare is worth to MTO 2,000 x 1500 = R 3,000,000.

Government hands over forest land management to BEE groups | Wednesday, January 26, 2005 |

Government has transferred the management of 140 000 hectares of forest land to two operators as part of its ongoing plan to restructure state-owned forests. Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) Minister Buyelwa Sonjica signed lease agreements with MTO Forestry (Pty) Ltd as well as Amatola Forestry (Pty) Ltd in this regard. Under one agreement, Amathole Forest Holdings and its Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) partner Wild Peach Investment Holdings will take over the running of 25 000 hectares of forest in the Hogsback and Stutterheim areas of the Eastern Cape.

The other agreement allows MTO to lease approximately 115 015 hectares of state forest land situated in the Western and Southern Cape. The successful bidder in this regard is BEE company, Cape Timber Resources, which comprises Cape Sawmills and Wild Peach Investment Holdings.

Ms Sonjica told reporters in Pretoria today that in terms of the restructuring agreements, 75% of the new forestry businesses would be sold while government would retain 25%.

She said 9% would be reserved for SAFCOL and her department's staff (??), 10% would be allocated for future BEE opportunities while the remaining 6% would be retained by the State for at least 5 years.

"These transactions are in line with government's policy of exiting from direct forest management activities while promoting Black Economic Empowerment in the forestry industry. At the same time, land, which is less suitable for forestry, will be converted for other uses or reserved for conservation," she added.

Thus in the Southern and Western Cape, 44 000 hectares of marginal State forest land will be clear felled and handed over for other uses including conservation (29 000 hectares), agriculture (9 000 hectares), community forestry (6 000 hectares) and settlement development (200 hectares).

Ms Sonjica has also assigned management responsibility for the Tokai Cecilia State forests in Cape Town to SANParks following Cabinet's decision in 1996 to develop the Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment.

"Tokai and Cecilia forests (1 001 hectares in extent) are located in a Protected Environment area and contain important lowland and mountain fynbos as well as pockets of Afro-montane forest, which need to be maintained. Eventually the two forests will be incorporated into the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP)," she explained.

In the interim, Tokai and Cecilia will be managed by MTO in terms of a 20 year lease during which MTO will gradually clear fell the area where after it will be released for conservation, said the Minister.

"MTO will also make a financial contribution to the initial rehabilitation of clear-felled areas," she said. SAFCOL will also transfer all of its eco-tourism business activities and personnel at Tokai and Cecilia to SANParks.

These agreements follow two others concluded in 2001 with Singisi Forests in the Eastern Cape and the Siyaqhubeka consortium in KwaZulu-Natal.

The department said the major outstanding transaction covering Komatiland in Mpumalanga was currently awaiting the outcome of a Competition Tribunal hearing.

Source: BuaNews

They can fool some people all of the time and they can fool all people some of the time but they cant fool all the people all of the time !

Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President (1809-1865)

A South African forest worker would need about 35 years to earn that much money:

SANParks spokeswoman gets a president´s salary pic Weekend Argus, Oct. 21Click to for larger image

National Parks heads score hefty pay increases

September 10, 2006 Edition 1

Sunday Independent - Eleanor Momberg

David Mabunda, the South African National Parks (SANParks) chief executive officer, and members of his executive received salary increases of 30 percent and more during the 2005/2006 financial year.

Mabunda, who earned a basic salary of R706 000 in the 2004/2005 financial year, was being paid a basic remuneration of R1 020 000 last year, according to the parastatal's 2005/06 annual report tabled in parliament recently.

This excludes the allowances, incentives and bonuses paid that brought his total package for last year to more than R1,7 million.

The head of SA Tourism, Moeketsi Mosoia, earned a cost-to-company package of more than R1,4 million in the 2005/06 financial year, including performance-related payments and employee benefits.

While all SANParks executive managers, bar Mabunda, earned less than R1 million in the 2004/05 financial year, their packages increased to over the seven-digit mark the year after.

Trees and Residential Property Values
House prices are also influenced by the presence
of trees. Developers can maximize profits by
retaining existing trees or replanting an urban
forest after construction is completed.
INCREASED HOME SALES PRICES - Several
studies have analysed the effects of trees on
actual sales prices of residential properties.
Homes with equivalent features—square footage,
number of bathrooms, location—are evaluated.
In one area a 6% increase in value was associated
with the presence of trees; an increase of 3.5 to
4.5% was reported in another study. TREE SIZE AND VALUE - A team of researchers
compared tree size and public valuations of
homes. Tree size did not affect the judgments of
price for low price homes, but did affect values
of more costly houses. For more expensive
homes, small and medium-sized trees enhanced
the public’s perception of real estate value.
UNIMPROVED PROPERTY VALUES - Using
a scale model of a land parcel, researchers found
that there was a 30% difference in appraised
value based on the amount and variation of tree
cover. Taking into account the potential value of
a house built on the site, the value increase
would be close to 5%.