A new Magaliesberg conservation project is being threatened by arsonists Nechama Brodie What should have been a week of celebration for Magaliesberg-based nature conservancy Jackal’s Kloof was marred by a deliberately set fire on its mountain top last week. The fire, which started late on Tuesday afternoon, took several hours to get under control – threatening the reserve’s unique plant and animal life, including a pair of black eagles with a young chick. Jackal’s Kloof recently spearheaded a major environmental initiative, the Peglerae Conservancy, which is aimed at involving more than 200 landowners in a joint conservation effort. Owner Kobus Hinsbeeck believes the fire was the latest in a series of poaching campaigns. Jackal’s Kloof has been targeted several times in the past few years, with incidents ranging from fence cutting and illegal hunting to private helicopters landing on the mountain top. The poachers are often indiscriminate and nothing in the conservancy has been exempted. The mountain peak is home to a number of small reptiles, three known species of scorpion, several unique plant species – including the Peglerae aloe – and spectacular rock crystals. On the kloof’s lower slopes are remnants of a once- flourishing indigenous forest, destroyed by locals for firewood. Jackal’s Kloof’s small game, many of which had to be reintroduced by Hinsbeeck and his colleagues, are also easy targets. Despite export controls imposed by conservation and customs authorities, poachers are able to send smaller animals overseas by mailing them in a normal envelope.
Adult scorpions, which fetch high prices on the black market, are able to survive for between three and five days without food or water. Japan and Europe are the major destinations. Tactics such as deliberate fires allow the poachers to clear the difficult terrain on the mountain top, usually covered in thick, dry grass. The flames force lizards and insects to seek shelter under the scattered rock formations.
Last week’s fire was set in the centre of what Hinsbeeck calls the “crystal belt” – an area covered with exquisite rock formations, a result of the mountain range’s sea-bed origins. The rocks, which provide shelter to the region’s insects and smaller animals, also often bear rich, hollow crystal pockets hidden only centimetres below their surface. Beds of quartz and amethyst, concealed under centuries of sun – and wind-weathered rocks, can fetch premium prices both locally and abroad. The growing demand for natural crystals, prompted by worldwide interest in New Age spirituality and healing techniques, has also created an extensive black market trade. Hinsbeeck recommends that people examine the pedigree or background of any crystals they purchase, in case it comes from illegal operations such as this one.
“How can you pay R20 for a crystal,” he asks, “when it’s worth millions?” To reach the caches of crystals, poachers hack away at promising structures, destroying the work of millennia in seconds – as well as the natural habitats of a range of spiders, scorpions, grasshoppers and small reptiles.
Officials at Lanseria airport don’t seem to think that the illegal export of such natural resources is a major problem (“I’ve never heard of it,” some comment), and the local nature conservation official is able to visit the airport only once a week.
ENDS