Fragile forest needs preserving
WHEN Jocelyn Sutherland told me I was standing on an 18 000-year-old coastal sand dune, the last of its kind in the world, I was intrigued.
Just outside the city, north of the Umgeni River, lies the Hawaan Forest, a spot so rare in the world’s ecosystem, that it’s a wonder people know so little about it.
“And that’s exactly what we hope to change. There are so many neighbouring communities in this area, yet so many know so little about this magical place. This is the reason we host free, and paid-for, walks into the forest, to educate people about why it’s so important to conserve these green spaces,” Sutherland, a Wildlife and Environment Society environmental officer, told a group gathered for a walk on a Saturday afternoon.
uMhlanga’s Hawaan Forest lies just off Portland Drive, near the Izinga Complex. The land is owned by Tongaat Hulett, and it’s closed to the public most of the week, and only opened for guided hikes.
Sutherland is known as the “custodian” of the forest, having spent several years taking people around it.
“The ecosystem in here is very fragile and we want to keep it as it is. The biggest challenges are illegal dumping, with people just throwing things over the fence, and there have been occasions when we had squatters and incidents of hunting,” she said.
The 55 hectare forest is has suburbia on one side and the coast on the other.
Officially it’s described as a dry coastal dune forest, and coastal dune forests form about 1% of the land area of KZN. Coastal dune forests form barriers against the waves.
The origins of the name Hawaan, according to Wikipedia, could be from the haven ceremony (in which a little fire is lit in a vessel with a few wood pieces) performed by Indians, and could link back to the time when Indian indentured labourers worked in the nearby sugar cane plantations.
In the forest, although we did not see any, live bushbuck, duiker, vervet monkeys, bushpig, guinea fowl, and birds. Forest grape and wild olive grow freely from the overhanging branches.
During the two-hour walk, we navigated through thick undergrowth and ropes, and Sutherland told the group about the numerous tree species such as dwaba berry, white stinkwood and cat thorn.
A word of warning: No food is allowed into the forest. Carry chilled water because it gets quite hot, wear long sleeves and pants and comfortable walking shoes.
Sutherland can be contacted at 031 572 4116 or 083 275 2216.