Trees
In the wrong place at the wrong time – trees prove deadly at Tokai Park
Many Capetonians and visitors enjoy walking, playing or engaging in other forms of recreation beneath alien trees or in plantations. However, this is not without its risks and we will do all we can to alert users of Tokai Park to the facts.
First, park users should be wary of Gum trees, or “Widowmakers”. This is the US Forestry Service term used by Australians to describe Gum branches that fall unexpectedly. Annually, a high number of fatalities results from these falling branches around the world. In short, it’s wise to exercise caution when walking beneath Gums.
Secondly, all trees pose dangers – for various reasons, e.g. wind damage, disease, natural cycles or merely by virtue of their size, age or mass. In March 2002, two six-year-old cousins, Melissa Cronje and Courtney Jeffries, were crushed by a falling gum at Tokai. This was an extraordinarily tragic event, and we honour their memory by remembering them and reminding people of the dangers posed by these trees.
Thirdly, there is a specific risk posed by Tokai’s pine trees. Many of them are infested with Pitch Canker. We have seen this disease develop for years – attested to by this 2012 comment on iNaturalist:
“So pine blight is here now! Along with Sirex Wood Wasp and other insects, this is set to make growing pines in the Cape even more difficult and less economical.”
Plantation pines are not safe. Once infested, pine trees rot and fall – and there may be little warning as to which trees are compromised. In some cases, the trees die before they fall; in others, the leaves are still perfect – but the trunks or stems have caved in.
Someone has to be held responsible for managing this risk to people’s safety. Who will be sued if someone is killed? Culpability will not be borne by SANParks, which tried to permit MTO Forestry to harvest the last of the pines in August 2016. Nor will it be shouldered by MTO, which was prevented from harvesting the trees by an order of the courts. The responsibility will revert to those who have so assiduously tried to retain these trees. Please consider this – and take care walking under the pines.
From an ecological point of view, the highest level of protection Tokai Park can have is for it to be fully incorporated into Table Mountain National Park, but SANParks can only finalise this process when that which remains of the MTO Forestry pine plantations is removed.
Further reading
- Bond WJ et al 2019 – The Trouble with Trees: Afforestation Plans for Africa
- Engelbrecht F, Le Roux A, Arnold K and Malherbe J 2019 – Green Book: Detailed projections of future climate change over South Africa Pretoria, CSIR
- Forsyth G and Bridgett J Table Mountain National Park Fire Management Plan CSIR/SANParks Stellenbosch/Tokai 2004
- Forsyth G, Le Maitre D, Le Roux A and Ludick C 2019 – Green Book: The impact of climate change on wildfires in South Africa Pretoria, CSIR
- Galloway AD et al 2017 – The impact of pine plantations on fynbos above-ground vegetation and soil seed bank composition
- Holmes P et al 2020 – Ecological restoration of ecosystems degraded by invasive alien plants in South African Fynbos: Is spontaneous succession a viable strategy?
- Popkin G 2019 – The forest question: Trees are supposed to slow global warming, but growing evidence suggests they might not always be climate saviours
- Pyšek P et al 2020 – Scientists warning on invasive alien species
- Van Wilgen 2012 – Evidence, Perceptions, and Trade-offs Associated with Invasive Alien Plant Control in the Table Mountain National Park, South Africa
- Veldman et al 2015 – Where Tree Planting and Forest Expansion are Bad for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
