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No compromise on pines
| Date: |
10 September 2006 12:00 |
| Producer: |
Michael Duffett
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| Show: | Carte Blanche |
To the world, Cape Town and South Africa, Table Mountain is an icon. It's part of the Cape Floral Kingdom. There are only five other such floral kingdoms in the world. The mountain has more indigenous plant species than the whole of the United Kingdom.
Flanking the side of the mountain are 100-year-old commercial plantations of mainly pine and gum trees. Most Capetonians refer to them as their greenbelt forests. Generations of locals have used these areas for picnicking, hiking, a place to walk their dogs, and a safe, shaded playground for their children.
John Webb (Carte Blanche presenter): 'It's magical here, walking amongst the huge pines in the plantations on Table Mountain. But what many Capetonians don't seem to realise is that the beauty and the shade offered by these majestic trees will be a thing of the past.'
Regular visitors to the plantations, or those who live alongside them, are accustomed to the sound of the chain saws, as harvesting of the commercial pines has always taken place. But, it's become obvious that denuded areas are not being replanted and many are anxious about this.
Mark Schlesinger (Coolforests): 'It's an ethnic cleansing campaign. They first went for the Tahrs, now they're after the deer, now it is the foreign species trees. Next thing it is going to be us... it has gone out of control.'
Capetonian nature lover Mark Schlesinger started his own website Coolforests because he felt he needed to alert the public about the impending deforestation.
Mark: 'This is the little bit of wilderness that we have got. It is at our doorstep and we want to keep it.'
Woman: 'This is the only forest and it goes for so far. I just think I would really miss it. I love it, it is my counsel.'
Woman: 'My family and I live next door to the forest and I come walking here everyday with my seven-month-old daughter. I feel that chopping down the trees and replacing them with fynbos is really going to ruin the landscape.'
Mark: 'I feel like we are being mugged of the Cape Crown jewels... put it that way.'
The plantations fall under South African National Parks, or SANPARKS. Brett Myrdal is the manager of the Table Mountain National Park.
Brett Myrdal (Park Manager, TMNP): 'It's important to note that Department of Water Affairs and Forestry took the decision to exit from the Tokai and Cecelia plantations some two years ago. We inherited that decision and became the new managers and we took over the lease.'
John: 'The Tokai, Cecelia and Newlands plantations... are they going?'
Brett: 'The plantations of Tokai and Cecelia are going. They are going over a 20-year period of time. Some portions may be replanted, depending on the input we receive from the public.'
And judging from the postings on the Coolforests website, internet forum discussions, and letters to the newspapers, a humdinger of a controversy is brewing.
Mark Wiley (former MEC Environmental Affairs): 'I think there's going to be such a public outcry. I think that the National Parks management is going to get such negative publicity I don't think it can happen. The people of Cape Town won't tolerate it.'
Mark Wiley, former MEC for environmental affairs, believes that the city needs these green lungs because much of the densely populated Cape Flats is treeless.
Mark: 'All these places like Cecelia, Newlands and Tokai forests have always been traditional areas where people can come and relax and be with their families, and be in a nice tranquil environment where the temperature - especially in summer - is a lot lower than it is in the normal outside environment.'
SANPARKS' vision is to restore these areas to their original indigenous splendour that will serve the same purpose to the public.
For example, these indigenous trees, which were planted 36 years ago, do provide the shade many fear they will lose when the pines go.
Brett: 'Re-establishing a forest is a hundred-year project and therefore we say that there is not a day to waste. Our task is to seek a balance between biodiversity and recreation.'
According to Brett, the pines pose a threat to a multitude of endangered species of fynbos.
Brett: 'I think we are here global custodians as managers of a World Heritage Site of the Cape Floral Kingdom. Therefore we have a global responsibility to restore that which remains - and that which remains currently, remains under those pines.'
In order to re-establish the natural forests and protect the fragile re-growth, areas of Table Mountain will become increasingly restricted. And dog lovers too may have to bite the bullet.
Brett: 'In the remote wilderness areas of the mountain we would like to see that dogs are not allowed in those areas, simply because that is where the buck are and that is where the small animals are... and we have seen a decimation of those populations. We would love to see a balance between the wildlife and the dog-walkers.'
SANPARKS acknowledge there are controversies surrounding Table Mountain but believe that Capetonians should see the bigger picture.
Brett: 'A 20 year period of time is a long period of time on a human life scale. A hundred year recovery for forest is that for generations. And we should bear in mind what we leave for our children... the opportunity to walk in 'real' forests. I think that should be our legacy.'
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER:While every attempt has been made to ensure this transcript or summary is accurate, Carte Blanche or its agents cannot be held liable for any claims arising out of inaccuracies caused by human error or electronic fault. This transcript was typed from a transcription recording unit and not from an original script, so due to the possibility of mishearing and the difficulty, in some cases, of identifying individual speakers, errors cannot be ruled out.
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