MEDIA RELEASE BY MR RONNIE KASRILS MP,
 

MINISTER OF WATER AFFAIRS AND FORESTRY
ON THE TRANSFER OF MANAGEMENT CONTROL OVER TOKAI
AND CECILIA PLANTATIONS FROM THE SOUTH AFRICAN FORESTRY COMPANY LIMITED (SAFCOL) TO SANPARKS
(CAPE PENINSULA NATIONAL PARK)


The Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has agreed to transfer management control over the Tokai and Cecilia State Forests situated within the area identified for the establishment of the Cape Peninsula National Park. The forestry operations will be managed by a special purpose vehicle company of SAFCOL, which is known as Mountains to Oceans (MTO) and SANPARKS will manage the recreation and conservation functions.

In terms of the transfer, SANPARKS will continue to accommodate MTO’s commercial forestry activities, but will manage the plantations on a multiple use and sustainable basis within a broader conservation framework. They have committed to preparing a publicly accepted plan, which will strive to find a balance between conservation, timber production outdoor recreation and the cultural landscape values. "We have made it very clear that a balance must be achieved between the interests of the Cape Town community and the important conservation objectives which SANPARKS is expected to achieve" said Director-General Mike Muller.

SAFCOL is in the process of withdrawing from forestry in the Southern and Western Cape including recreational and eco-tourism areas such as the Tokai and Cecilia plantations on the slopes of Table Mountain as well as within the Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment.

SANPARKS has expressed keen interest in incorporating the Tokai and Cecilia plantations as a going concern, into the Cape Peninsula National Park. Their intention is in line with a 1997 decision, to pass the management of all public land within the proposed Cape Peninsula National Park to SANPARKS.

The Department has emphasised that the intention is not to remove plantation forests. SANPARKS for its part has indicated that they would retain the commercial forestry areas, as an integral part of their conservation efforts. The plantation areas provide for high impact tourism activities, diverting significant volumes of visitor traffic and thus helping to conserve very sensitive ecosystems.

As with the lease agreements for other State forests in the Cape, MTO would retain access to the timber producing sections of the two plantations for the next 70 years. Conservation and commercial timber production would therefore co-exist on the same area, managed in an integrated and mutually beneficial manner by a single management authority. Timber production plans would be co-ordinated with conservation management plans in a manner, which should benefit the greater Cape Town community.

Due to their location, Tokai and Cecilia plantations are an outdoor refuge for thousands of nearby city dwellers, particularly for previously disadvantaged communities living in the nearby Cape Flats area. Exceptionally huge pine and eucalyptus trees that were planted at the inception of the plantation in the 1880s create a unique environment of scenic beauty and tranquillity within the city boundaries of Cape Town. The plantation areas are used for various sporting and recreational activities, such as jogging, mountain biking, and horse riding as well as hiking. The formalised picnic areas are exceptionally popular with people from areas around Cape Town with more than 100 000 visitors annually. These activities should remain part of the plantations' management plan allowing public access and enjoyment of the area as well as commercial forest activities.

The public’s interest in the two plantations has been formalised with the establishment of a community interest group, Friends of Tokai, which regularly meet with both SAFCOL and SANPARKS on developments affecting the plantations.

Tokai and Cecilia plantations also represent a significant part of South Africa’s forestry heritage. The first forestry training college in South Africa was established at Tokai, although the buildings have since been demolished. The arboretum has been declared as a National Monument and contains some of the original species samples brought to South Africa during the nineteenth century, from which many of the commercial timber species found today in plantations across the country were developed. Some of the trees in the arboretum are also unique from an international perspective, as they have remained separate from their original, but evolving habitat and subsequently changed gene pool, for instance the Australian Eucalyptus trees.



Enquiries: A M Muller
Director-General: Water Affairs and Forestry
Tel: (021) 464-1501

Or

Ms L Mossop
Chief Director: Forestry
Department of Water Affairs and Forestry
Tel: (012) 336-7212
Cell: 0828012310
E-mail: lindam@dwaf.gov.za