News

Cape Town, 18 June 2007 – In preparation for the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry’s announcement on Tokai and Cecilia, a day long site inspection was undertaken on Wednesday, 13 June 2007 by representatives of Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF), SANParks, Urban Forest Protection Group and the City of Cape Town to assess the situation.

The group jointly toured the TMNP and visited the following three sites: Constantia Nek where they saw the felling of pines by MTO Forestry; Orangekloof where TMNP has successfully restored the Afro-montane forest, where they also visited the tented camp built entirely from invasive alien timber harvested in the Park; and the cleared area of the Tokai plantation to see the granite fynbos restoration site.

The lobby group was also informed that TMNP has decided to hold back the release of its Management Framework in order to be guided by the input of both the Mayor’s roundtable report (released on 18 May 2007 which endorsed the process), which has already been released, and the formal response from the Minister of DWAF to Urban Forest Protection Group.

SANParks believes that the site visit proved to be incredibly useful in promoting dialogue and a better understanding of the different points of view that have been expressed on Tokai and Cecilia.

By way of background it is important to recognize that Tokai and Cecilia plantations are located within a designated conservation area – the Cape Peninsula Protected Natural Environment (CPPNE). The plantations became part of the Table Mountain National Park in April 2005. This step flows directly from the Government’s original decision in 1996 to establish the CPPNE as a National Park to give it the highest level of conservation protection in the country.

The plantations were previously managed by a state forestry company for the Dept of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF). In 2005, DWAF entered into a 20-year lease with MTO Forestry, the commercial timber company which won the public tender to harvest the plantation trees. This lease was “˜assigned’ by the Minster of Water Affairs and Forestry to SANParks to manage the 400 hectares of “˜conservation and recreation’ land while MTO Forestry is responsible for the commercial harvesting of approximately 600 hectares of plantation land. The trees were originally planted in defined areas called “˜compartments’ which are harvested as the trees mature, on an incremental basis, over 20 years to 2024.

Once a compartment of trees is harvested the area is handed over to SANParks to include in its recreation and conservation management of the area.

To address the future of the plantation areas once harvested, TMNP initiated a public process to prepare a long term Management Framework to guide the rehabilitation and use of the area. Following on from specialist studies and public input to identify the issues, a draft framework was released for public comment, and these are captured in a comments and responses report.

It should be noted that as the Tokai and Cecilia land is to be become a declared National Park and form part of the Cape Floral Kingdom World Heritage Site it will receive the highest level of protection and can only be used for purposes of a National Park. The land will therefore be safe from subdivision and housing development.

For further information, please contact:

Phumeza Mgxashe, communications manager at 083 589 8588.