Concern over veld fire threat to George

The George-born botanis, Dr Brian du Preez of the UCT Science Faculty, has posted two opinion pieces on veld and fire management in light of the recent wildfires in the Western Cape.

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Dr Brian Du Preez took photos of “attempted logging” of selected alien trees on DFFE land on the outskirts of George, which he says is extremely worrying.

His latest piece refers specifically to George. He writes:Following on from a previous article post putting some blame on landowners for poor veld and fire management, let's have a look at an example. The urban interface of my hometown, George, on the Garden Route is nothing short of a disaster waiting to happen. This area was previously well-maintained plantations for timber production with beautiful natural fynbos and forest interspersed, but has become a destitute mess for which nobody wants to take responsibility. The area is made up of a maze of different landowners, including the George Municipality, DFFE [Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment], SANParks and CapeNature. All these bodies have failed to different degrees to act on their legal obligations in terms of Nemba [the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act] to control and eradicate alien invasive plant species.

"I fear and warn that the next fire is not far away, since the last fire here was about eight years ago, so the time for action is now!"