|
|
| ::
Home
/ Info /
History
/ Timber |
* The following passage is a written
account of region in 1951
:: Timber Resources
The Union of South Africa is one of the most poorly forest-clad countries in the world. 3.1% of its total land area is under indigenous high
forest, scrub and savanna forest, but plantations of exotic species, upon which the countries timber requirements depend, cover only 0.6% of
the Union. This contrasts strongly with Canada and the countries of Scandinavia where as much as 50% ot their total land surface is under
trees.
in 1950, the Union possessed 2,607 square miles of plantations of which tan wattles, conifers, and eucalypts were by far the predominant
species. These plantations occur mainly within a distance of 100 milesn of the coast along the wetter southern and eastern parts of the
Union. The greatest single concentration, however, lies with the region covered by this survey. Here, round Barberton, White River, Sabie and
Graskop occur 128,000 morgen of afforested lande representing 16.37% of the area of timber plantations of the Union. State plantations cover
an area of 73,000 morgen which is 31.2% of the total area of State plantations in the Union and, by further afforestation of land already
available, this will be increased to 113,400 morgen.
The earliest efforts at afforestation in the Southern Lowveld Region were born of necessity. The development of underground mining in the
vicinity of Pilgrim's Rest towards the end of the nineteenth century created a demand for timber which soon exhausted such supplies as were
available from the indigenous trees growing in the more accessible kloofs, and there is record of expenditure on tree planting by a pioneer
gold-mining company before the turn of the century.
In the Annual Report of the Transvaal Gold Mining Estates Ltd. for the year ended March, 1904, there is mention of the planting of 350 acres
of eucalypts and black wattle on the farm Driekop situated just north of Graskop. Government plantings for the same purpose on the farm
Graskop started during this period and it was here that the first pines were established in 1909.
It was probably first believed, judging from experience of the growth rate overseas, that the growing of pines would be such a long-term undertaking as only the State could
entertain under a policy of national development. The shortage of timber which developed towards the end of the 1914-1918 war, however,
focussed attention on locally grown pines, and exploitation of certain stands of large trees in the Cape gave such a high return as to give
the necessary encouragement to more extensive afforestation. It was in 1919 then that the first large scale planting of pine trees commenced
on various farms on the escarpment both by the State and by private enterprise.
As experience was gained, it became noticeable that the phenomenal rate of growth of exotic trees upset any preconceived notions of the economics of tree growing. The volume increment of softwood
trees in this Region was found to be about five times as great as that of similar trees grown in the cooler European countries; and
appreciation of this fact, combined with the lead given by the State in establishing sound silvicultural methods, led to a very considerable
extension of pine plantations. These trees have now also been successfully established immediately below the escarpment and in recent years
large areas of black wattle have been converted to softwoods.
Parallel with these developments came the establishment of plantations of Eucalyptus saligna in the warmer but still humid areas at
elevations below 3,500 feet. Here the growth was found to be even more
exponential, the volume increment being double that of the pine
plantations. In the hands of gold-mining companies and of a large number of private planters, this region has become one of the main
suppliers of salinga mining timber to the Witwatersrand and Orange Free State goldfields.
... more >>
|
|
| ::
Add This
Button |
|
Are you on LowveldInfo?
Then get the code to place this button on your site here
|
|
