While pests and diseases pose obvious threats, other pressures like fire, theft and physical damage can pose an even greater hazard. Bear in mind that it takes between 10-25 years for trees to grow, and damage to mature trees can have significant economic impact.
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Since the 1980s, 600,000 hectares of timber have been burnt by forest fires, which in most cases resulted in the loss of the timber and the need to replant these areas.
Every year, hundreds of naturally occurring fires and criminal arson attacks threaten our timber plantations, costing millions of Rands in damage and endangering the lives and the livelihoods of all those working within the forestry sector or living alongside it.
As a result, the industry has invested billions of Rands in fire prevention and management. From high-tech detection systems, to cutting-edge firefighting equipment and the best training programmes, no corners have been cut when it comes to fires.
There is also strict fire legislation, which sets out fire prevention steps that the industry must adhere to.
Sadly, most timber plantation fires are still a result of deliberate arson events, which are very hard to prevent. Education programmes have been put in place to reduce the risk of certain indirect arson risks, posed by honey gathering and subsistence bush clearing.
It should be noted that climate change is resulting in climatic extremes not seen before in South Africa. This can result in increased risk of fires, which are exacerbated by extreme weather conditions.
For more information visit:
Legislation: National Veld and Forest Fire Act
NCT Forestry – Bird friendly burning and grazing
SA Forestry Online – Managing fire article
Working on Fire
Be fire-wise
Forestry South Africa in collaboration the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has produced a series of sound bytes comprising messaging to create awareness of the very real danger of fires during the dry winter months.
Fire-wise fires safety message 1 to 8 (English)
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Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.Photo Credit : Kishugu
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Theft of trees and machinery is a huge and country-wide problem for the forest industry. While it is impossible to calculate the true extent of the thefts occurring in South Africa’s timber plantations, with single incidents running into millions of Rand, it is fair to say that theft is a multi-million Rand problem.
Theft is also evolving. In the past, it tended to be small scale, opportunistic and sporadic. Now, it is well resourced, organised and large-scale.
Around 73% of the thefts that occur within the plantation are tree based, with three to four year old trees at most risk. The remaining 27% are equipment thefts, with chainsaws being on top of the list. Thefts also occur en route to the processing plants, with logs being stolen at depots, sidings, during transportation and even at the mills.
For more information visit:
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Extreme weather conditions, rodents, antelope and baboons can cause significant levels of damage in a timber plantation. If left unchecked, damage results in a decrease in productivity, inferior quality wood, and in severe cases, tree death.
In 2014, it was estimated that baboon damage alone cost the forest industry upwards of R130 million – for more information: http://www.forestry.co.za/impact-of-baboons-in-timber-plantations/
While extreme weather conditions can rarely be predicted or controlled, the other aforementioned risks can be monitored and managed using a suite of control measures. As with all pests, the choice of control measure is dependent on numerous factors. These include, but are not limited to, scale of the damage, the damage causing species, the tree species, the landscape setting, the number of control measure available and the financial and practical implications.
For more information visit:
