The expert vegetation study commissioned by the MMSEZ identified four tree species of conservation concern. (Photo supplied)
More than 125 000 hectares of indigenous vegetation in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, including thousands of protected trees, are set to be destroyed to make way for coal mining and heavy industrial zones in the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone (MMSEZ) in Limpopo.
The reserve, which boasts some of South Africa’s most unique and pristine natural landscapes, is one of only 10 Unesco-designated biospheres in South Africa and is the largest in the country.
The planned economic zone, which was designated in 2017, comprises a northern light industrial site near Musina, which is focused on manufacturing, agro-processing and logistics, and a southern heavy industrial site, largely for steel manufacturing.
Non-profit organisation Living Limpopo obtained records which reveal that 658 058 protected trees, including 10 000 baobabs, will have to be cut down on the south site and a further 10 000 at the north site.
These records were released by the department of forestry, fisheries and the environment in response to an application under the Protection of Access to Information Act (PAIA). It was made by All Rise Attorneys for Climate and Environmental Justice, acting for Living Limpopo and the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) at Wits University.
The organisations said the documents suggested that of the multiple applications lodged by the MMSEZ since 2020, two licences have so far been granted, both for the north site – in 2023 and renewed on 20 May 2024 for the destruction of 1 000 baobab, marula, leadwood and shepherds trees.
The records revealed discrepancies with the environmental impact assessment. The 2022 application for approval to “cut using chainsaws into stumps”, 658 058 protected trees on the south site, “dwarfs the estimated 109 034 protected trees” on the site that was given in the 2021 environmental impact assessment undertaken for the site’s establishment.
On why there is such a discrepancy, Kirsten Youens, of All Rise, said: “This is the question that needs to be asked. And I don’t have the answer. It is extremely strange.”
The groups noted how many experts at the time argued that the assessment was grossly flawed, but in July 2022, environmental authorisation was granted.
The judicial review case brought in December 2022 by Living Limpopo, CALS and others against the decision to grant environmental authorisation for site establishment at the South Site, is still pending. All Rise will be in an unopposed high court hearing in Polokwane on 6 December to finally determine issues relating to the record of decision.
According to Living Limpopo’s Lauren Liebenberg, the true number of trees and other vegetation that will ultimately be destroyed in a vast swathe of Vhembe remains unknown. What is certain is that the impact on the health of both the savanna biome ecosystem and the surrounding communities will be devastating.
Expert tree study
According to the National Forests Act, “no person may cut, disturb, damage or destroy any protected tree or possess, collect, remove, transport, export, purchase, sell, donate or in any other manner acquire or dispose of any protected tree or any product derived from a protected tree, except under a licence or exemption granted by the minister to an applicant and subject to such periods and conditions as may be stipulated”.
The expert vegetation study commissioned by the MMSEZ identified four tree species of conservation concern protected in terms of the Act.
The total number of specimens recorded was 109 034, of which 51.3% consisted of marula trees, 41.9% of shepherd’s trees, 5.2% of baobabs and 1.65% of leadwood trees.
The poorly protected Musina Mopane Bushveld habitat was the largest vegetation unit in the area and consequently had the highest number of protected trees at 96 336.
The report noted that most of the species are “easy to relocate”, with the exception of the baobab species and with a “degree of success” can be established outside of footprint areas. All of the species are “still well represented in areas that won’t be disturbed.
In her letter to senior forestry officials in August this year, seeking the applications for the removal/destruction of protected trees for the MMSEZ and for the establishment of the MMSEZ township, Youens noted that the report recommends the relocation of these trees — more than 109 034 of them.
“There is no indication as to where these trees will be relocated. The cost of relocating a baobab is between R20 000 to R100 000 per tree, with a success rate of only 50%. The success rate of transplanting a shepherd’s tree is less than 10%, and the marula and leadwood trees, about 10%,” she said.
“What is clear is that granting the licences will cause significant and irreversible environmental harm and loss of biodiversity in the area and is in conflict with the desired state of the region. Our clients are, therefore, strongly opposed to the applications.
The PAIA application was initially refused, and then granted on appeal. For Liebenberg, the matter was “as much eventually about our rights to access to information as it was eventually about the destruction of our natural and cultural heritage and the obstructiveness and evasiveness from the department in disclosing the records”.
‘Cautious, responsible approach’
The department’s spokesperson Peter Mbelengwa, said its forestry branch “plays a crucial role” in the sustainable management of natural forests and protected tree species.
The department received licence applications for the MMSEZ for both the northern and southern sites. That for the southern site dated August 2022, did not meet the requirements of the National Forest Act, as the “spatial planning and land use management act and water use licence approvals were outstanding”.
The department also received licence applications for the disturbance of 10 000 protected trees.
“The licence was not issued due to the significant impact on the protected trees and the receiving sensitive environment,” Mbelengwa said. “Continuous engagements on the project took place with the project managers. Subsequently, the applicants submitted a licence application to disturb 1 000 protected trees and the licence application was evaluated and a site inspection was conducted.”
The licence was issued to the applicant for cutting 1 000 protected trees, although sensitive environmental areas such as riparian areas, watercourses, and the areas that contained larger density of baobab protected tree species were excluded.
“To mitigate the impact of the development on the protected trees, mitigation measures have been included in the licence conditions. To date, the department has received 1 500 trees as part of the mitigation to the removed trees. At least 500 of these trees were planted at Musina, 500 at Tshikwarani and 500 at Mauluma Village,” Mbelengwa said.
He said the department was taking a “cautious and responsible approach” to the licensing, to ensure that the impact on protected tree species were minimised.
Baobabs are an iconic species of significant cultural, spiritual and economic value to the local rural population, Liebenberg noted.
“Regardless of that, they are still just an indicator of the scale of the destruction … Most of the 125ha is either critical biodiversity area 1 or critical biodiversity area 2 classified areas (irreplaceable areas) or at least ecological support areas, and all of it natural,” she said.
“All of it is savanna biome that is going to be stripped away for coal mining and heavy industry. In other words, all those protected tree destruction permits, whatever the dodgy status of them all are – and we will continue to pursue this — they are all derived from environmental authorisation for vegetation clearance.
“That is indigenous vegetation that represents a natural carbon sink and a biodiversity reservoir. And in the context then, of the war against coal resources versus the natural carbon sink for carbon capture and storage in natural ecosystems … this is just criminal.”
More than one in three tree species worldwide faces extinction
For the first time, the majority of the world’s trees have been listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with at least 16 425 of the 47 282 species assessed being at risk of extinction.
Trees now account for over one quarter of species on the list, and the number of threatened trees is more than double the number of all threatened birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians combined.
Tree species are at risk of extinction in 192 countries around the world. The highest proportion of threatened trees is found on islands. “Island trees are at particularly high risk because of deforestation for urban development and agriculture at all scales, as well as invasive species, pests and diseases.
Climate change is increasingly threatening trees, especially in the tropics, through sea-level rise and stronger, more frequent storms,” it said.
Addressing the threats that trees face, habitat protection and restoration, as well as ex situ conservation through seed banks and botanic garden collections are critical to prevent extinctions on islands and worldwide.
The loss of trees is a major threat to thousands of other plants, fungi and animals. “As a defining component of many ecosystems, trees are fundamental to life on Earth through their role in carbon, water and nutrient cycles, soil formation and climate regulation.”
People also depend on trees, with more than 5 000 of the tree species on the IUCN Red List used for timber in construction, and more than 2 000 species for medicines, food and fuels, respectively.