More than 97 000 hectares of state-owned forest land in the Garden Route area around Knysna managed by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry has been formally transferred to South African National Parks (SANParks) as the basis for the new Garden Route National Mega Reserve.
Speaking at the signing ceremony on Friday morning marking the transfer, which is one of the largest single land transfers ever to SANParks, Marthinus van Schalkwyk, Minister of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, described the move as ”one of the most exciting and significant conservation achievements in recent South African history”.
”What we are doing today may well reshape the future of eco-tourism and economic growth in the Southern Cape,” said Van Schalkwyk. ”This transfer of land today will lay the foundations for the future establishment of a Garden Route Mega Reserve, encompassing the three areas already managed by SANParks — the Tsitsikamma and Wilderness National Parks and the Knysna National Lake Area — as well as these new forests and other public and private conservation land.”
”This new ‘mega-reserve’ may well become a model for South African conservation as it would integrate unspoilt natural areas with existing towns and communities in a sustainable conservation landscape,” he said.
In terms of the agreement, the land comprises 97 300 hectares of state forests, including 35 756 hectares of indigenous forests (the Farleigh, Diepwalle and Tsitsikamma estates), about 35 638 hectares of mountain catchment area (mostly fynbos in the Outeniqua and Tsitsikamma mountains) and about 25 900 hectares of land currently under pine plantations that will be clear-felled, rehabilitated and transferred to SANParks over the next fifteen years.
”This transfer is part of the bigger process of putting the administration of our precious indigenous forests in the best possible hands. Indigenous forest covers less than 1% of South Africa and the Knysna/Tsitsikamma forest is the jewel in the crown, the largest single natural forest in South Africa,” said department Minister Buyelwa Sonjica. ”My department has worked with SANParks and other stakeholders, including organised labour for nearly four years to ensure that the process runs smoothly.”
”The transfer of the Knysna/Tsitsikamma forest is part of a wider process involving not just SANParks but also provincial nature conservation agencies to whom forest management is being transferred under the National Forest Act, 1998,” indicated Sonjica. ”Under the agreement with SANParks, the department will maintain oversight over the management of the forests in terms of agreed policy approaches.”
”We are also transferring the budget for the management of these forests to SANParks, as well as about 124 staff — including highly qualified foresters and specialists in harvesting indigenous forests.”
Speaking about the biological importance of the area, Dr David Mabunda, CEO of SANParks, said: ”We have, for many years, worked towards the goal of ensuring that all of South Africa’s seven biomes are represented in the national parks of our country. At less than 1% of our surface area, the forest biome is the smallest of these and until today, no really significant portions of the forest biome have been included under SANParks management.”
”The conservation significance of this transfer is the single management agency for all of the natural resources from the mountains, through the lowlands and into the sea. This will also remove public uncertainty about who manages which piece of land,” he concluded. — I-Net Bridge