Moving Mountains
Sugarbird Trust Annual Report 2023/24
Reading Time: 5 minutes
It’s said that with the right people, armed with the right tools, the right vision and the right attitude, one can move mountains. When it comes to the Sugarbird Project, a Sugarbird Trust initiative, it’s abundantly clear that the right people are doing the right thing to restore and conserve the Critically Endangered fynbos making Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) and its Arboretum an integral part of our globally renowned World Heritage Site, the Cape Floral Region Protected Areas.
LETTER FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
This year, the Sugarbird Project has achieved great impact in our mission to protect and preserve the unique biodiversity of the Cape Floral Kingdom by clearing invasive vegetation. We’ve now adopted about half the northern section of Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) and expanded our footprint in the central section. This year, we have:
- Increased the total area under adoption from 1 000 to 2 800 hectares of TMNP, by adding on: the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak from Deer Park right round to Rhodes Memorial; parts of Cecilia; parts of Tokai; and areas around Llandudno.
- Cleared 80% of the lower slopes of Devil’s Peak, that came up thick with invasives after the fire of April 2021 that burned parts of UCT. This has been a race against time to get them before they seed in mid-November. (Devil’s Peak team funded by Rotary International.)
- Now cleared three quarters of Newlands Forest, which was heavily infested with invasives including garden escapees. (Newlands Forest team funded by The Mapula Trust.)
- Cleared the slopes to the north of Llandudno that came up thick with Port Jackson after the fire in January 2023. (This work was part-funded by the Llandudno Ratepayers.)
- Established a Rope Access team (funded by The Sophia Foundation) to reach invasives growing on high-angle slopes.
- Caught various bottlebrush infestations in the early stages, around the City Bowl. With regular follow ups, we envision we will eliminate this threat in the next few years.
- Partnered with Newlands Forest Conservation Group to paint the bark of almost every target tree in Newlands Forest, to protect their bark from being stripped for traditional medicine. (This work was funded by The Sophia Foundation.)
- Partnered with five community volunteer hack groups, including Friends of Tokai Park, led by Dr Tony Rebelo and Dr Berta van Rooyen, to clear Lower and Upper Tokai and the Arboretum.
- Partnered with the Camps Bay City Improvement District to begin clearing the public areas within Camps Bay, and to train up their 6-man green team to do the work themselves.
- Partnered with the South African National Biodiversity Institute, to begin clearing Kirstenbosch.
- Expanded from 5 contracted teams (28 men in all) to 11 contracted teams (58 men in all).
- Expanded our volunteer management and oversight team from 8 to 16 wonderful individuals.
- Supported 14 men to become chainsaw operator certified and purchased several chainsaws.
- Started purchasing tools in bulk directly from the supplier, at wholesale prices.
- Expanded our donor base and increased our annual budget from R4 million to R10 million.
In the coming year we plan to:
- Do follow-ups on all adopted areas already cleared in TMNP, clear all remaining areas under current adoption, and expand our areas under adoption from 2 800 to 4 000 hectares.
- Start building much-needed capacity in the Overstrand (Hermanus) area, by contracting and supporting a team there.
A heartfelt thank you to all those involved in this project: the donors who make it possible; the teams who do the hard work in tough conditions; the volunteers who give freely of their time and knowledge to manage and market the project; our partners in SANParks and SANBI who supply us with permits and herbicide; the community hack groups who help us with follow-ups; and my fellow trustees who ensure good overall governance. The trustees held our annual general meeting on 22 April 2024 and signed off our annual financial statements for 2023/24, which are available on request.
What’s left of the Cape Floral Kingdom is under severe threat from invasive vegetation, which grows and spreads relentlessly. Sometimes the task at hand seems overwhelming. In a recent WhatsApp conversation with Dr Tony Rebelo, I expressed my frustration: “Cecilia is such a mess, one hardly knows if it is worth the effort. Any rate, I guess anything is better than nothing.”
I’ll close with his heartening response: “Cecilia has still got good Fynbos, and it is threatened Granite Fynbos. Of course it is worth it. Every square meter is worth it! We will knock the area into shape. We will knock TMNP into shape. One alien plant, one NBal, one fire at a time. Nothing is not an option, and anything is not enough…“
There you have it, folks!
Warm regards
Sandy Van Hoogstraten
In conservation and restoration, collaboration is everything and Friends of Tokai Park (FoTP), guided by Professor Tony Rebelo, Dr Alberta van Rooyen and Jay Cowen, are immensely proud to be associated with and work alongside the community of men and women making up the donors, sponsors, trustees, overseers, contractors and hacking teams of this eminently sustainable, uplifting and life-affirming environmental enterprise.
