Fight on against illegal logging
WOODCUTTERS: SELL TO NEARBY CURIO SHOPS
‘I could hear chainsaws roaring, even during lockdown.’
Illegal tree logging in the Hartbeespoort dam area continues to decimate picturesque landscapes. But until the socioeconomic challenges are combated in the region, trees will continue to be felled “with impunity”, John Power, the terrestrial ecologist for the department of economic development, environment, conservation and tourism, said.
Landowners and members of the Magaliesberg Biosphere organisation have highlighted significant ecological threats to the region for years as trees continue to be cut down illegally.
The wood is chopped up and sold as firewood at locations along the Hartbeespoort Dam.
Wood vendors at the Pelindaba intersection in February said mopani, rooibos and sekelbos are the most popular trees for firewood.
They said hard wood takes seven days to dry and that wood harvested from nearby areas, usually illegally, is routinely dropped off at the intersection.
At the Hartbeespoort’s curio market, a father and son team cut down sekelbos trees to earn money to survive. Their makeshift workshop in the bushes just off the N4 road is where the father cuts trees down every day.
His son sells the sekelbos wood as firewood and offcuts are sold to nearby curio markets, where an assortment of knobkerries and stylised Big 5 animals are crafted.
The fact that illegally harvested wood is ending up in curios sold to consumers is not a wellknown fact, but the woodcutters confirmed to The Citizen that only a small portion of their harvested wood was sold as firewood.
Power said the tourist market had dried up significantly due to lockdown, but showed signs of slowly recovering.
Local residents are probably stockpiling wood to keep warm during the winter.
Unlike grass, trees grow slowly, which means too many tall trees cut down in an area result in significant losses.
Power said the impacts of a sudden loss of trees would result in increased soil erosion, as tree roots bind the soil. This formed gulleys, which rain water rushed down, stripping other vegetation along with it.
Trees in the Skeerpoort area are particularly vulnerable to being overexploited, he added.
Trees also house a host of indigenous bird species, invertebrates and other animals dependent on them to survive.
In some areas, illegal logging is severe, with Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (Wessa) chairperson John Wessel warning that “we need to take efforts to the next step, as soon there will be nothing left.”
Wessel said that on a recent snare patrol in the De Wildt region of Magaliesberg, he could hear chainsaws roaring, even during lockdown.
Encouragingly, a new initiative in Mogale City shows a promising start to curbing illegal logging.
According to the municipality and the department of environment, forestry and fisheries, an official warning letter from the municipality states that a criminal case will be opened against any offenders caught or reported to environmental management inspectors for a second time.
We need next step, as soon there’ll be no trees