Coolforests URBAN FOREST PROTECTION GROUP forests of Cape Town

In Principle this site is about a new FANATICISM ...not just against our foreigner species forests but it seems all alien/ foreigner species...

These forests are used and loved by many & 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 & forest and trees. Table mountain national park is much more than just a BIO-RESERVE its not a Kruger Park. ITS AN URBAN PARK WITH MASSIVE URBAN NEEDS..... This site is not about negating indigenous forest or plants! Its about preserving what very little forest shade is left now! Campaign petitions & posters are available to download off the site,- photocopy & distribute,- IMMEDIATE ACTION & 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! Many argue that SANPARKS is just a lot of words and lip service & gas! They got through the door with the intention of a BIO-RESERVE and it appears that there is no regard 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% against approx 98% Fynbos....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 & 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 ?

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HERE WE GO AGAIN.....THE NEW draft proposals to ban dogs from much more zones. It doesn't seem to stop with SANPARKS does it? They should have made their intentions clear right at the front door of the CAPE TOWN CITY that their intentions were to create a kind of game reserve. and that slowly but surely we would loose freedom after freedom...bit by horrible bit! People have used this park freely for ages and we see it very much the same way as say a Londoner might see Hyde park or a New Yorker might see central park. Table mountain is not a Kruger National Park and SANPARKS should told us from DAY 1 !

What about a SANPARKS 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 & bouncing around outdoors (Not crammed in crowded "Dog-Zone" and forced onto leashes)

Are decisions for our urban habitat and natural environment around cape town based on the Botanical society or Civil society?

You can also lobby DWAF & GOVERNMENT & drive this in the MEDIA). Keep forestry in the Cape & manage them for maximum old growth shade areas & re-plant indigenous trees wherever possible, where old indigenous forest can realistically recover in the wet & rich soil ravines.

Here, appears to be the truth, - a frank chat on the SANParks forum...at least this game ranger is honest the park is not to entertain "JOE PUBLIC" but the fact that table mountain is in SANPARKS hands is quite chilling if you can read out the fundamental ethos that will be applied to our park. And here, ladys and gentleman, are some of the incentives to convert the mountain into south Africa's favorite new export... a game reserve, now out of reach to most South Africans..& goodbye to almost everything that an urban park and peoples park that it once was! That old law...follow the trail carefully enough and there is always a few SCHMAKEROOS at the end of the rainbow.... so here is the loot! (and some interesting chats...( I am sure that some of the rape, mugging and assault victims in the mountain wished that even 0.000001 % had been put into security! )

Pictures received from supporter...."The Rape of Newlands forest....I am enclosing a couple of pictures of the seven days of the logging operation. You can imagine what the area looked like before - now it resembles a wasteland".

AN EXTRACT OF TONY REBELLO'S Writings..Rebello and Guy Preston are probably the two main people driving this fanatic campaign that is now more vandalism of the cape then Biodiversity,- today 2010 - they are now even killing Oak trees and believe it or not Yellows woods...yes Yellow woods!!

What was a favorite resting & shaded world class view point ABSOLUTELY VANDALIZED by the experts of SANPARKS and WORKING FOR WATER. Now its a sizzler devoid of all shade and impossible to enjoy on any Average summers day....

See above,- part circled in blue....This issue came up in the recent public participation process that has just run in cape town....It became apparent that the public participation process is about what to do with the tree stumped and barren land AFTER the forests are removed! Its absurd! People were very angry....Its a joke...what's the point people were shouting ....its like closing the barn door after the horses are out. One person said its like arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic while it is busy sinking! Its not just the forests but also the exquisite old oak trees and other harmless foreigner species that have been destroyed all over table mountain (And other areas of South Africa it is becoming apparent),- Its like some kind of ethnic cleansing campaign in South Africa .... A kind of vicious attack on all foreigner species trees..... Ring barked or chain-sawed for this ethnic pure idea of what some people want our parks to be! Many decades of growth and beautiful shade were gone in seconds....Has the revolting old apartheid ghost found a new state machine to frolic around in?

Plans are underway to remove the old city foreigner tree (Alien) plantations which comprise the belt of patchy urban forests commonly known as TOKAI, CELIA, CONSTANTIA NEK, CAMPS BAY GLEN, DEER PARK (much has already been removed bit by bit,- extremely discreetly ) A very small advert appeared in the back of a community newspaper,- awash in the clutter of the classifieds....March 1 2006 the chainsaws for Cecilia! .....and who knew ? - This has been happening quietly piece by piece!

We believe that these forests/plantations are valuable to the communities of Cape Town. We are a new organization need support to develop the site and create a public participation forum to expose what is to happen to our cape forests. Not all foreigner trees are biohazards and certainly our cape plantation forests of Tokai and Constantia and the smaller ones should not be removed but kept for recreational uses and recognized as valuable to the surrounding communities.

The public is largely ignorant of the fate of the forests & alien species have been demonized to a very large degree,- Not all foreigner trees are BIOHAZARDS.

BOTTOM LINE:- Sanparks are the custodians of the Table mountain national park,- Arguably they can say that they are not responsible for the forests,- and that the wood is in fact the property of the loggers already (MTO/ contracts signed and done long ago)! There are many ways to look at this,- But...one way is ....that they have been given control of the Table Mountain National Park,- quiet easily the hottest property in South Africa,- in fact, - the CROWN JEWELS of the Cape! As custodians of the mountain park should they not be responsible to the people of the cape who live and used the park way before they arrived? They have been given a piece of platinum land with patches of plantation forests (Tokai, Cecilia, Camps Bay Glen e.t.c) that many people on the edge of these forest areas may even have bought their homes for.....because of the profound ambience & beauty created by the large trees.

There will be NO MORATORIUM on the tree cutting and ONLY NOW is there a PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESS which is to unfold this year (takes 30 seconds to cut a tree by modern chainsaw) and will cost Quarter of a million. READ IT. (?) But the issue is more....Forestry is exiting the cape to! Can the forests be managed as harvesting area and normal planting and re-harvesting e.t.c and old growth areas and indigenous tree planting areas...who are the players....what can be done ....What about the forestry guys ? Can they stay.....would they be on the side of the public ? so here we arrive at the .....Forestry EXIT STRATEGY from the western Cape ...what does it mean...It means that forestry is leaving the cape! In plain old English its the death knell for our forests if they go!

LETTER BY PROFESSOR GEORGE ELLIS UCT....What you WONT be doing on weekends anymore! READ IT!

The mass of visitors to the Table mountain park exceed the quantity of visitors to the Kruger park about 4 times!! (Kruger is just another asset under SANPARKS belt). Kruger has around 1 mil visitors per annum T/Mountain park around 4.5 mil per annum!! Table mountain is not like the Kruger park,- Its an urban park with massive urban needs and SANPARKS, at the end of the day should not shun their responsibility to manage Table mountain park as whole & integrated park to the Cape.

Many conflicting forces prevail re the forests but the bottom line is that the forests are in their 12 hour! Their death sentence has been signed and done! The sad and rancid bottom of this is that SANPARKS should not attempt to confuse the situation to the public by rattling out adverts,- bucket full of acronyms like MTO/ SAFCOL/DWAF and contracts e.t.c and conceal the advert in the clutter of a classified section of a tiny community newspaper and so attempt to discount the situation & also comfortably and conveniently anaesthetize the headache of it to! This is front page stuff. The forests of the cape are integral to our culture here! There are many arguments & extremely conflicting attitudes to the situation in fact almost caustic! The EXTREME ends of the argument are that many people (Purists ?) would like "table mountain park returned to its "natural integrity" and "former glory" and see the complete removal of all foreigner trees! (The "Fynbos Fanatics") We take an approach that the forests are priceless (worth infinitely more then the wood) to the Cape. Many communities have no trees or shade at all (Cape Flats/ Nyanga e.t.c) and these forests are were people go for peace, shade and rest, - like we all did at Silvermine forests once upon a cool picnic & friends & family in the shade time!

* As we understand the situation....it get worse.... Decisions were made on top-dog government level to end forestry in our province.... Its called the MTO "EXIT STRATEGY" .....basically meaning forestry closing down in the Western Cape,- This means there is no replanting and in plain English, what is happening now....is the discreet whittling away of the last remaining patches of this forest or plantation belt. Its been happening for some time now.

* The DEATH SENTENCE for our belt of forests. It all sort of goes hand in hand with the UKUVUKA campaign that demonized foreigner species of plants to the point that now most people think they are all bad! Converting our mountain park back into its "original integrity" of Fynbos will leave very little shade areas as the afro-montain forest belts are very small and already the pressure on the foreigner species forest is massive. Parking lots are often packed on weekends. When the plantations are gone,- I personally don't believe the indigenous forests will have the carrying capacity to accommodate the massive urban needs for shade forest. trails and people will turn them into crowded out stations and masses of feet will make for ground mulch of mud! In this regard the plantations even protect the indigenous! People need shade and many people like myself avoid high UV exposure these days and prefer shaded walks due straight forward logic of the times. CAPE TOWN SUN IS A SERIOUS CONSIDERATION! Imagine when there simply is no more shade?

* Decisions were probably made on ministerial level in Gauteng where they know nothing of the value of our forests to the communities of the cape.

* This has been happening very quietly & without any public participation and perhaps a bit of misrepresentation as most people are still under the impression the trees will be replanted.

Has the Anti Alien Campaign gone to far ? Imagine the cape without its forests !!

Everywhere massive old trees are being killed including Oak. Its an insane new xenophobia wiping out trees that have taken entire human lives to grow! Why? This seems to be happening all around SA. One wonders what kind of Jurassic park mentality, unconscious cannibal can kill (ring-bark) an old Oak Tree? What is going on ?

* Discussing the issue with a person walking in the forest from the cape flats...I was reminded that there are no trees in Nyanga or Grassy park or Mitchell's plain & that these forests are more valuable to some people than our beaches,- as was Silver mine forest (now gone)! The forests are where many communities go for picnics & family walks & Braais in the shade Silvermine forest was a place about people! What's it going to be like picnicking and braaing in the Fynbos ? In the heat of summer or when the South Easter is blowing,- Silvermine was a cultural melting pot of happy people enjoying the trees & shade!

Cape Flats Many communities in the cape have NO TREES! The forests are x100 times more valuable to them than even our beaches...some would say that they are almost living on an extended treeless beach! See "poster of promise"... people come first (before biodiversity!!! )

* We support the preservation of Fynbos which is unique to this area but the present old plantation forests comprise less than a tiny 2% of the 30’000 ha of the Table Mountain Park & cannot represent any threat to the conservation of the endemic Fynbos.

* These forests are a heritage & vital recreational environment,- its not just about BIODIVERSITY and Nature CONSERVATION,- human & urban needs must be considered to!

* The chain of forests beautifies the surrounding roads & neighborhoods areas with a shady ambience that will be lost forever if they are removed for Fynbos. Its not just about our old plantation forests but also there is a new & extremely fierce fanaticism that has become a kind of xenophobic white wash! (Trees, Thar's, ducks, Mountain deer... anything foreigner). Massive old trees have already been removed (including Oak +-150 years old ? and Stone Pine that provided essential shade for walkers, hikers & mountain bikers! Sanparks has taken control of the Table mountain national park & there has been no public participation in the decision making as originally promised regarding the removal of the old shade trees on trails and in the belt of old plantation forests.

We don’t know the plans for the smaller forests and "tree bunches" like Camps Bay Glen/ Kloof nek and other areas. What we have seen is that many trees and patchy areas of shade stone pine have already been removed off the pipe track (SEE PICS) and areas along the Hout Bay fort area that provided absolutely essential shade and rest areas for walkers and hikers. In summer the Camps Bay pipe track is almost impossible to walk now. How much farther do they want to go?

The anti Alien Campaign is essential but It's become some kind of extreme whitewash /ethnic cleansing campaign with DWAF! We believe it will be a permanent loss to the Cape if the forests are removed as planned. Tokai is about forest and so is Constantia nek ...what will it be like when its all Fynbos!

There is no solid consensus at present to keep any forests. Present policy is that they will removed and not replanted. A task team is currently investigating. Its also interesting to see the fire hazard aspect of the stone pine. The cape fires ravaged everything but the stone pine as indicated in the pics. Big question mark. They seem to have the public image that they were some kind of highly inflammable petrol bombs waiting for a flame to explode....see the pics for yourself ...make up your own mind on this one!

Pictures 2 water...(large pine trees catching the swirling mist and puddles collecting under ...)

Interesting pics after the fire 2006 (NO foreigner (alien) trees caught fire!!! See pics of the Stone pine ..probably fire adapted in some way...perhaps the lower branches were cut ? Many people see them as fire hazards. This species certainly appears not and the anti alien campaign has certainly demonized the life out of them!! Many people are saying the fires were because of them.... see the pics yourself! Pictures don't lie!

Read this brilliant letter from BILL IMPEY,- a tourist to Cape Town from LONDON.

Life in a pine forest. Does it exist ? Or is it a lifeless desert ? CLICK HERE LIFE IN THE DESERT (Once again, this is an issue about people as much as it is about Biodiversity)

1) cape info End of Table Mountain's 'foreign' shade trees? .....Have a QUICK GLANCE at some of the stuff that has been said then have your say.... here's a tidbit pulled from the PUBLIC RAGE (go there !)... "is nothing less than a disgraceful robbery. And has nothing to do with alien or indigenous vegetation. In September 2005 there is an interview with Brett Myrdal TMNParks manager, on this website where he specifically states the willingness of his organization to incorporate the plantations into the park eco system to help contain the amount of recreational traffic and thus protect the more sensitive ecosystems on our mountain. What Changed?"

3) Carte Blanche FORUM go to "have your say" then click on forum... conservation.

"Aliens" have been demonized to the extreme and I am not qualifying Port Jackson and wattle the other major problem plants

....BUT NOT ALL FOREIGNER SPECIES ARE PORT JACKSON'S! Even Pretoria's jacarandas came under attack (what's going to happen to JHB Saxonwold/ Houghton area??) Are these foreigner trees a problem to the residents ? Are Asian fig and Gum a problem to Seapoint Cape Town ...photos...food for thought (if anything we should plant some Jacarandas here of we could!!)

One of the "MAIN-MAN" master mind's behind this campaign is Dr Guy Preston ....head of the "plant Police" ...the national program leader of the campaign....."working for water"...some would say that his approach has been more like a kind of Saddam Hussein Iraqi style scud bombing attack on anything with the genetic code bearing the code "made offshore"...

A more focused scalpel /surgical precision or ...put it this way tomahawk type of focused attack on the real invaders would have been better for all of us... his letter in the cape times followed a brilliant, plain truth brilliant letter from a UK letter...(we know about the port Jackson's, the wattle in our river beds...he seems to go on and on about the obvious that we all know and have heard 100 times...had he got his way we wonder what Pretoria's jacaranda would have been replaced with ?? what a grim thought if you know how beautiful Pretoria is with these trees... link to PRESS CUTTINGS & Response by SANPARKS

And so.....Table mountain will be returned back to its "former glory" and original integrity,- A treeless Fynbos.

Foreigner trees beautifying De-Waal drive starting about here all way through to Constantia nek....observe when you next do this road...99% foreigner trees!...(are they that bad??)

THE PERFECT ESCAPE! .... lazing the day away in the shady silence. And a chilling out party in old Silvermine forest. (now removed)

Lying in a hammock you can feel the sway of the giant trees....& what a relief & shelter even when the howling & maddening South Easter is pumping at a million miles per hour!

Constantia nek forest walks and Large Russula mushroom And Mountain biker with "mans best friend"!

Patchy forests on side of road of Camps Bay (foreign species) Camps Bay Glen. Round house surrounded by forest on misty day.

NOTE ON CAMPS BAY OLD PLANTATION FOREST. - the developers have not got it yet! The last bit of precious forest left in Camps Bay has been under attack by a hotel group if you don't know. Its been quiet for some time now. But don't fall asleep or think its over. Plans were .... a 4 star hotel and spa and condo's ..More elitist development and less green park space for cape Town. Wonder how many developers have tried to grab Hyde Park of London and Central park of New York?? Many battles must have been fought! A UNANIMOUS NO from the residents and ratepayers of Camps Bay seems to have stopped this. The Camps Bay residents and Urban folk of Cape Town love this little piece of "cool forest",- The developers will face a war! The gas, mirrors and smoke environmental impact assessments were seen as just that in the presentation at the Ratepayers AGM! Now all seems to have gone quiet,-

NEWS FLASH:- NEW DEVELOPERS/ CONCESSIONAIRES have RE-ENTERED THE SCENE! March 2006 (P.S. If you cant harvest the wood.... Is the value of the forests then about milking the asset ? The asset being the shade & and the quiet .......Its attacking the very value that makes it what it is to the neighborhood and user groups. The peace and quiet and tranquility! .... SO throw in a restaurant, spa or hotel ...And harvest it out.... .....THINK ABOUT IT!

Will this be the fate for Tokai and the other forests if they cant harvest the wood (at least for now) ?

If everything were returned to Fynbos,- how bleak and stark would the Cape be! (Wonder if anyone in this tree felling campaign has shares in the sun-block cream business....its going to boom when our urban forests are gone and Table mountain is returned back to its tree-less "natural integrity / former glory")

"A holistic view can see more values in the environment than merely whether a tree is alien or not - there are many other things that come into play. It takes the crucial issue of context into account in devising policies, rather than trying to use the same single solution irrespective of context. It welcomes diversity rather than trying to impose uniformity on the world around us. And it takes note of the complexity of interactions that lead to unintended consequences in complex systems".

Remember the quiet before the storm and Chapman's peak that we lost to a toll gate system ? That road should be returned to the people of Cape Town. It went quiet for so long! Now what we have is a sort of cement Epping industria landscape on the cliff face and the incredibly intrusive little storm of anger every time we do that route......... to add insult to injury ...we cannot even boycott the road because of some clause that protects the company and if their turnover drops to a certain base level the government pays the difference....A business model we would all die for! Don't let silence send you to sleep,- this applies to our forests to where patches disappear bit by bit,- e.g. old Silvermine forest at the banks of the lake!!! (if you have any pics please let us know)!

Constantia nek drive, very beautiful,- massive gum trees .... they are still BABIES,- 99% foreigners (Alien!!) what were absolutely massive & beautiful shade trees used by hikers and mountain bikers and dog walkers for shade from the beating sun....removed by Sanparks!!!! . must have been about 80 years destroyed in 10 minutes of chain saw. A truly phenomenal caliber of (legal ??) vandalism in the name of "alien clearing" ! Pipe track (Note scale of tree against adult....just the width!)

Camps Bay Kloof Nek and Pipe Track patchy remnants of forest... immensely precious summer and winter.. soft and misty, rich with smells in winter and cooling in summer. ALL FOREIGNER SPECIES TREES!

Misty moody old plantations... wet with winter mists! Eucalyptus forest shading road down from Constantia see walking with giants

Massive shade trees removed from Hout Bay fort. Trees were valuable shade for picnics and hikers!

Pic 1 Old fort ...remnants of trees (once beautiful picnic place) If they replanted today the trees will be back like they were in around 30 years ..WHAT A SHAME! Pic 2 The legendary fairy Amanita Muscaria .. its not that magic...don't eat it! This mushroom is of the "Amanita" Genera which also hosts the angelically beautiful porcelain textured "Destroying Angel" and of course also the "Death cap"...not an entirely pleasant way to exit!! This mushroom is not of the Psilocybin ilk! Its also one of the most commercialized mushrooms in the world... very weird & wonderful to look at but don't pick (or eat), -let them grow for others to see to!

City bowl / table mountain slopes which was once graced by old plantation forest.- It was all removed and now there is massive erosion with each winter rain. Looks like a real desert! Have a look up next time you are in city bowl. Quite sad.

Camps Bay Glen forest Erosion gulley's on slopes of Table Mountain where forest once stood

Water guzzlers ? Stone pine living on rock, - hardly any running streams here....must be minimal water collected from mist on Lions head on top ...go to page pictures 2

SUMMARY

The present old plantation forests comprise less than a tiny 2% of the 30’000 ha of the Table Mountain Park managed by SANPARKS & cannot represent any threat to the conservation of the endemic Fynbos.

We see these forests as a heritage & an essential recreational concern. We also query whether Fynbos can be a suitable replacement for these forest areas which serve so many recreational purposes & beautify the neighborhoods.

The public is largely ignorant of the fate of the forests. Alien or foreigner species have all been demonized to a very large degree.

Not all foreigner (alien) trees all biohazards!

Food for thought.....

What's the real South African Anthem ? The Family Braai. Sitting around a fire in mansion or hut! It's powered by foreigner species wood & so is the roof scaffolding shading your very head! If you are a farmer or on a small holding out there in the country ,- you will probably be very grateful for that the alien Eucalyptus and Pine that shades & cools your farm house & breaks the cut of the winds! (PLEASE WRITE TO US ..TELL US YOUR STORY) The average rural black family uses just under 15KGs of foreigner tree wood PER DAY for fire !!! Just to keep alive and warm in winter.... This is a massive energy release. Where is this energy going to come from if it wasn't from foreigner tree's? Simple logic ! What is the quantity of energy per +-15KG of wood per day multiplied across the nation to all rural families. A lot! This is literally solar power photosynthesized into wood.... & released rapidly in flickering flame! Will this energy be pulled off the escom grid ? Which appears to be buckling already under the strain ? Who will foot the bill ? Another rates increase and property revaluations ? ? And can South African tree species meet the needs from building top national anthem (BRAAI) to carton boxes to the paper in your printer ? What's a Wendy house or log cabin going to cost made of SA species ? And finally what will happen to our extremely infinitesimally tiny and precious little scratches of remaining indigenous forests when the price of wood gets attractive enough to warrant secret theft of old trees? Are the foreigner species / aliens therefore actually protecting our indigenous forest wood ? Will we reach a day when supply and demand of indigenous wood reaches that critical mass point when indigenous forests come under serious attack! Need to put a guard at the those last remaining giant yellow woods ? The seemingly impossible can and does happen! Nobody ever thought armed guards would be at war for a Rhino-horn! Yes maybe its a good idea to keep the price of wood as low as it can be !

Not that foreigner species are all good.... but not all of them are the demons that the general public think they are!

Just food for thought!

SA Forestry is closing down / exiting from the cape! THE EXIT STRATEGY

Those who know Grabouw, Franshoek and Stellenbosch plantations may have wondered what's the big rush ? why such a hurry ? Even very young & infant trees were removed!

Other countries.....are planting trees...for example Israel and china...Tree Planting to benefit the State of Israel. .......Israel's forests and parks were not always there. The first settlers in the country found a desolate land with absolutely no shaded areas. Today, Israel is the only country in the world with more trees at the start of the 21st century than at the start of the 20th century.