Cape Town - In efforts to combat illegal bark stripping in Newlands Forest, SANParks says mature and seed-producing trees will be painted with grey water-based PVA paint.
“The indigenous trees that are commonly targeted and stripped of their bark are the Cape beech, Cape chestnut, wild peach, assegai, and stinkwood.
“This has a huge impact on forest diversity as trees die a slow death due to the interruption of the nutritional transport system.
“One of the proactive solutions which will be launched shortly, with the assistance of our partners, is the painting of specific trees. Mature and seed-producing trees will be painted with grey water-based PVA paint as a method to deter bark stripping,” SANParks said.
The painting is part of an integrated strategy that SANParks said was developed after it held consultations with stakeholders including the South African National Biodiversity Institute , independent arborists, SANParks Honorary Rangers and the Newlands Forest Conservation Group.
The painting of trees will be conducted as a joint venture between Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) and the Newlands Forest Conservation Group.
The public should be aware of groups of contractors that may be seen in the forest painting the trees.
The TMNP has appealed to the public to report bark stripping activities to the emergency number 086 110 6417 or send an email to [email protected] with the GPS location or description of where bark stripping was located.
“We would like to thank the stakeholders involved in this initiative for their immense support of our conservation effort to fight bark stripping at Newlands Forest,” said Megan Taplin, TMNP park manager.
Cape Times