Success story of the hackers of the Kogelberg biosphere

Chris Geldenhuys
Convenor, Pringle Bay Hack

The following article appeared in the December 2017 edition of The Pringle Post:

The purpose of this article is to enlighten the residents of Pringle Bay and the greater Kogelberg Biosphere of the activities of the Hack Group.

The purpose of the Hack Group is to eradicate or, at the very least, to limit the growth and spread of invasive alien vegetation in the area with a view to protect the natural fynbos.  That is done by cutting down and poisoning or uprooting alien plants and trees.  Many of the trees are too thick to cut by means of a hand saw and for that a chainsaw is used. The vegetation that is targeted consists mainly of Rooikrans (Acacia cyclops), Port Jackson (Acacia saligna), Pepper wattle (Acacia longifolia), Australian Myrtle (Leptospernum laevigatum), New Zealand Christmas Tree (Metrosideros excels), Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii), Pine trees (Pinus pinaster), and many others listed in the schedules of the relevant conservation legislation.

The Hack Group meets once a month (last Sunday of the month in Pringle Bay) and targets chosen areas in Pringle Bay. Currently the Pringle Bay Hack Group consists of 40 registered members. Not all members report for every monthly hack, but the general attendance per hack varies between 19 – 24 members on a hack day.  In addition some members, in combination with members of the Bettys Bay Hack Group and Rooi Els forms a Wednesday Hack, every Wednesday morning. They hack where the threat is most urgent within the Kogelberg Biosphere area. For the untrained eye the success of the hacks are not always clearly visible, but there are a number of real success stories. We wish to illustrate two cases.

The first example of the Hack success is the story of Ed’s Valley. Twenty years ago there was a massive Pine forest north of the R44, just east of the Avril Dump location. First Cape Nature cut it down and then a dense Port Jackson forest developed in the same valley. In about 2004 a fire swept through the valley and then millions of small seedlings started to grow in a severe dense manner. The Wednesday Hack, then about 5-8 members, undertook to eradicate that Port Jackson threat. Sometimes they had to go down on their knees and pluck the seedlings one-by-one! It took them 138 hacks to eradicate the exotic infestation.

Since then the Wednesday hack visits that terrain every November, to ensure there are no more exotic seedlings and to destroy any new growth. Now the valley is covered with pristine Fynbos! Due to this unique effort the Kogelberg Branch of the Botanical Society of South Africa saw it fit to name that area Ed’s Valley, in honour of Edward Silberbauer, who was the convenor, motivator and inspiration to save the Fynbos of that specific piece of valley!!!

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Photo of the hackers in 2004 eradicating the exotics one-by-one
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Photo of Edward Silberbauer at the unveiling of Ed’s Valley on 22 November 2017
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Photo of the pristine Fynbos in Ed’s Valley, free from any exotic infestation

The second example is the story of the Pine Forest. The farming plot area between Rooi Els and Pringle Bay was seriously invested by a fast spreading Pine forest. It gave a false sense of privacy and safety, but the real fire danger and threat to the Fynbos was not realised. After the February 2017 Rooi Els Fire, the residents came to realise the life threatening danger and the Wednesday Hack Group volunteered to cut down the forest. With a Wednesday attendance, varying between 8-12 members, it was estimated that the project would last about 18 – 24 months. The task commenced on 6th June 2017 and every Wednesday, as the weather allowed, the pines were hacked. In August 2017 the hack group realised that the adjacent plot owner tasked a private company to eradicate the pines on their plot as well. That support helped the hack group considerably. A breakthrough was achieved on 1st November 2017 when the last of the main forest were cut down. Although the main part of the forest is down, there is still a lot of work to be done to clear the lone standing pines on the periphery of the original forest. It is surely inspirational and wonderful to see how the Fynbos seedlings are recovering after the fire and with the eradication of the pines.

All credit must go to the few Wednesday Hackers, namely Ed Siberbauer, John Whitehead (unfortunately John passed on since), Tom Dreyer, Frik Potgieter, Jan Joubert, Ulli Niemann, Claude Moine, Mike Robinson, Willem Stiglingh, Chris Cadman, Richard Smeda, Natalie & Bernard van Wulven, Jeannie Harning, Carol Wilson, Selwyn Botha, Sandy Middleton, Robert Schaefer,  Ivan & Ria Staegemann. Congratulations guys, you are honouring your environment!

Photo of the Pine forest before the hack!
Photo of the Pine forest before the hack!
Photo after the forest is gone!

These are only two examples of a number of hack successes. It is essential that all residents of the Kogelberg Biosphere take note of the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (NEMBA) Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations of October 2014. It is our duty to ensure that we secure our Fynbos heritage for the generations to come. There are some stiff penalties for land owners, who do not comply with the eradication of invasive plant species. The sooner you address the invasion, the easier and cheaper it is to address!

Any person who wants to become involve in the fight against the invading exotics are welcome to liaise with any of the Hack Convenors, namely Chris Geldenhuys in Pringle Bay (082 900 8299) or Frik Potgieter in Betty’s Bay (084 600 9891).