I read with interest recently about fires on Paarl Mountain – indeed, the central part of the mountain is the hotspot for fires breaking out among the wattle and other alien trees.
In 2009, I saw with my own eyes how these trees explode in the heat of the fire close distance from the house there. Every now and then trees are chopped down, but they are just left on the slopes of the mountain – causing an even bigger fire risk.
I reiterate nothing is being done by the municipality to eradicate these trees or to force landowners to do so.
What is also extremely worrying is the large amount of wattles that have taken over the river embankment in the arboretum – that in an area which is know as a tree park.
Literally hundreds of trees have sprung up here and in barely a year and a half they have grown from 1 metre high to 4+ metres and counting.
And again, nothing is being done about this – it is right in the face of the municipality and within their jurisdiction. But no! If they had immediately sent a small workforce in once the trees had started growing they could have then very easily been eradicated. Now it is going to be a very costly affair.
Wattle and bluegum trees devour hundreds of litres of water per day, per tree. They are going to suck our river dry.
I wonder what the German municipality that donated all the money to the municipality for the care of the Arboretum would think if they knew about this?
Tom,
Paarl
Gerald Esau of the Municipality responds: It is simply not true that Drakenstein Municipality is doing nothing to eradicate alien invasive trees. We are addressing the dense alien invasive trees on the eastern slopes of Paarl Mountain by using wood harvesters in the central area to remove some biomass and trees which have fallen. By taking out bigger trees we reduce the heat intensity should a fire occur. Owing to the steep slopes on the mountain the thinner branches are packed on the ground to protect the soil from eroding during heavy rains. Drakenstein Municipality’s Fire and Rescue Services regularly sends out notices to landowners to clear their land of fire hazards and keep their firebreaks in check.The municipality has an Alien Clearing Management Strategy, which identifies problem areas for which action plans are formulated and implemented. Much of this work is dependent on external funding as internal capacity is limited. The national Department of the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry has sponsored funds to this end for most of the Berg River, including the Arboretum. The implementing agent, Cassidra, has started on this project and plans to address the Arboretum area this month.As far as the Arboretum Climate Smart River Park project is concerned, our contractor started working on the northern entrance to the Arboretum in January this year. This entrance as well as the river bridge entrances and the green classroom will be constructed and/or upgraded this year. So far, joint funding (of the Municipality and the City of Neumarkt’s contribution) of R4,8 million has been spent on this project in the 2019-’20 and 2020-’21 financial years.
