Newly planted indigenous trees rise against bark stripping in Cape Town
A new seedling planting initiative is revitalising Newlands Forest in Cape Town, bringing together traditional healers, SANParks and conservation groups to tackle illegal bark stripping.
Thousands of centuries-old indigenous trees in the Newlands Forest have been dying from pervasive, illegal and unsustainable bark stripping. Stripped bark is typically used for rope, dyes and paints, canoes, and by traditional healers for cultural and medicinal purposes.
On its ancient trees you can see the scars with patches of missing bark, sometimes circling the entire trunk, a practice known as ring-barking that serves as a death sentence.
This illegal bark stripping, driven by a market where a single piece can sell for between R100 and R200, is killing 100-year-old, seed-bearing indigenous trees and disrupting the forest's natural regeneration.
The problem has become so widespread that, according to Niel Williamson, co-founder of the Newlands Forest Conservation Group, 'there's actually no part of the forest that hasn't been affected'.
Williamson told Daily Maverick they have been concerned about the bark stripping and the impact on the forest for years and that it seemed to increase around the Covid-19 pandemic.
While acknowledging the need for traditional medicines and bark for cultural uses, Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) manager Megan Taplin told Daily Maverick that responsible harvesting was needed to prevent the demise of the trees and the long-term health of the forest.
When too much bark is removed, particularly through 'ring barking,' the tree dies, impacting potentially hundred-year-old, seed-bearing trees and disrupting the forest's natural regeneration.
For years, the response focused on enforcement, but the demand for bark for traditional medicine persisted. Now, SANParks is using an integrated strategy to try to heal the forest from the ground up, with those who might be using the bark.
'There is no point just doing the law enforcement actions when the demand is still going to be there,' explained Taplin. 'We have to make sure that we deal with it in an integrated way.'
TMNP approached various stakeholders including the Sugarbird Trust, Newlands Forest Conservation Group and the City of Cape Town to begin conversations about collecting seeds, germinating those seeds and replanting them in areas that had been most affected by bark stripping.
Now it's got to this point where seeds have been collected in the forest, which were propagated in nurseries, and planted in the areas which have been most affected by bark stripping. The first planting began on Friday, 20 June 2025 along the Woodcutter's Trail.
Donovan Antonie, section ranger for Newlands Forest, told Daily Maverick: 'They remove up to 90% and in some cases 100% of the bark, stripping from the bottom up… That's the crucial part of the tree and kills the trees at the end of the day.'
Antonie said they have been trying to put proactive measures in place to reduce the loss of these trees. This includes raising awareness of the problem, painting trees with watered-down PVA paint to deter bark strippers, and law enforcement to apprehend bark strippers.
In the past three months there have been four arrests in Newlands.
The seedling planting on Friday indicated a stronger shift in SANParks' multipronged approach that moves beyond mere law enforcement – including intelligence gathering and proactive solutions such as painting mature trees.
Now they have begun seed collection and planting indigenous trees in affected areas and are working with traditional healers to create awareness and find sustainable solutions.
Day of planting: A ritual of restoration
The trek up to the Woodcutter's Trail in Newlands Forest on Friday for indigenous tree planting with traditional healers from the Traditional Healers Organisation (THO), SANParks and conservation organisations was a wet and muddy journey through a richly shaded forest.
The trail began with a steady uphill climb, winding through indigenous forest on a well-worn path that can be rocky and uneven in places, especially after rain. The group gathered to begin the first phase of indigenous seedling planting.
More than 50 seedlings were planted. But before the planting began, traditional healer Jongwa Mdumata performed a ritual to bless the day's activities. Mdumata said they came to appreciate the natural environment that surrounded them, with plants and trees that were designed to sustain humanity and the earth.
'Let us preserve the natural environment amongst us,' he said.
Hipor Hlathana, coordinator of the Traditional Healers Organisation's Langa branch, was part of the tree-planting efforts and has been a traditional healer since 2008. She explained that they use tree leaves and roots to heal the nation, but that they looked forward to learning more about sustainable ways of harvesting these materials.
'Families have got trees that belong to them. Part of the trees that belong to families is the Umnquma (Wild Olive tree) at Table Mountain, you cannot do any cultural event without a branch of it. But we know it is very scarce, so they are now going to equip and empower us more on how to harvest it because from generation to generation, we are still going to do cultural ceremonies,' said Hlathana.
Umnquma is still going to be needed by generations to come, so Hlathana said it was their duty to ensure that it is harvested sustainably.
Hlathana said that they needed more knowledge and information on how to do the harvesting for their medicine, and that they needed to find a way to balance conservation with cultural practices.
Workshops with traditional healers are planned to discuss challenges and explore sustainable harvesting methods, hopefully ensuring the forest's preservation while respecting traditional practices.
The traditional healers from THO who helped in the planting with SANParks were not the ones coming to the forest to strip the bark, but Taplin said they might be using the products and not know that it was unsustainably harvested and harming the environment.
Replanting and future-proofing the forest
Trevor Adams, based at the Cape Research Centre, provided further insight into the seedling planting process. With a horticultural background, Adams and the Biodiversity Social Projects (BSP) team have been diligently collecting and germinating seeds.
He clarified that the plants being introduced are seedlings, not mature trees, since they are taking 'baby steps' to see what works best.
The seedlings, including Cape Beech, Wild Almond, Bladder Nut and Cape Olive, are strategically planted, with taller, slower-growing trees placed next to faster-growing 'pioneer trees' to provide support, structure and shade, mimicking natural forest growth patterns.
Taplin said: 'This is just the first such initiative of replanting in areas where they have been affected by bark stripping, where trees have died off, and there will be more in future.
'We need to try and curb illegal activities in the park… It's not so easy to contact the bark-stripping groups, because they're aware that they're doing an illegal activity, and they'll try not to be found.
'But that's why we want to engage with more traditional healers, so that they can make sure that where they are buying the bark from, it was sustainably harvested or harvested with a permit, instead of illegally harvested.'
Looking ahead, SANParks plans to initiate a 'cultural demands survey' within the park to identify the various groups using Table Mountain National Park and the purposes of their visits, encompassing cultural, religious and recreational activities.
While recreational users are well understood, there is a recognised lack of information about cultural, religious or spiritual uses, and new groups are continually being identified.
Taplin said that understanding these diverse uses, including specific needs such as the requirement for fire in ceremonies or the use of particular plants, was crucial.
She said the gathered information will enable SANParks to develop strategies that allow these needs to be met safely and sustainably within the park, fostering a collaborative approach rather than relying solely on apprehension for illegal activities. DM
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Daily Maverick
10 hours ago
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Newly planted indigenous trees rise against bark stripping in Cape Town
A new seedling planting initiative is revitalising Newlands Forest in Cape Town, bringing together traditional healers, SANParks and conservation groups to tackle illegal bark stripping. Thousands of centuries-old indigenous trees in the Newlands Forest have been dying from pervasive, illegal and unsustainable bark stripping. Stripped bark is typically used for rope, dyes and paints, canoes, and by traditional healers for cultural and medicinal purposes. On its ancient trees you can see the scars with patches of missing bark, sometimes circling the entire trunk, a practice known as ring-barking that serves as a death sentence. This illegal bark stripping, driven by a market where a single piece can sell for between R100 and R200, is killing 100-year-old, seed-bearing indigenous trees and disrupting the forest's natural regeneration. The problem has become so widespread that, according to Niel Williamson, co-founder of the Newlands Forest Conservation Group, 'there's actually no part of the forest that hasn't been affected'. Williamson told Daily Maverick they have been concerned about the bark stripping and the impact on the forest for years and that it seemed to increase around the Covid-19 pandemic. While acknowledging the need for traditional medicines and bark for cultural uses, Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) manager Megan Taplin told Daily Maverick that responsible harvesting was needed to prevent the demise of the trees and the long-term health of the forest. When too much bark is removed, particularly through 'ring barking,' the tree dies, impacting potentially hundred-year-old, seed-bearing trees and disrupting the forest's natural regeneration. For years, the response focused on enforcement, but the demand for bark for traditional medicine persisted. Now, SANParks is using an integrated strategy to try to heal the forest from the ground up, with those who might be using the bark. 'There is no point just doing the law enforcement actions when the demand is still going to be there,' explained Taplin. 'We have to make sure that we deal with it in an integrated way.' TMNP approached various stakeholders including the Sugarbird Trust, Newlands Forest Conservation Group and the City of Cape Town to begin conversations about collecting seeds, germinating those seeds and replanting them in areas that had been most affected by bark stripping. Now it's got to this point where seeds have been collected in the forest, which were propagated in nurseries, and planted in the areas which have been most affected by bark stripping. The first planting began on Friday, 20 June 2025 along the Woodcutter's Trail. Donovan Antonie, section ranger for Newlands Forest, told Daily Maverick: 'They remove up to 90% and in some cases 100% of the bark, stripping from the bottom up… That's the crucial part of the tree and kills the trees at the end of the day.' Antonie said they have been trying to put proactive measures in place to reduce the loss of these trees. This includes raising awareness of the problem, painting trees with watered-down PVA paint to deter bark strippers, and law enforcement to apprehend bark strippers. In the past three months there have been four arrests in Newlands. The seedling planting on Friday indicated a stronger shift in SANParks' multipronged approach that moves beyond mere law enforcement – including intelligence gathering and proactive solutions such as painting mature trees. Now they have begun seed collection and planting indigenous trees in affected areas and are working with traditional healers to create awareness and find sustainable solutions. Day of planting: A ritual of restoration The trek up to the Woodcutter's Trail in Newlands Forest on Friday for indigenous tree planting with traditional healers from the Traditional Healers Organisation (THO), SANParks and conservation organisations was a wet and muddy journey through a richly shaded forest. The trail began with a steady uphill climb, winding through indigenous forest on a well-worn path that can be rocky and uneven in places, especially after rain. The group gathered to begin the first phase of indigenous seedling planting. More than 50 seedlings were planted. But before the planting began, traditional healer Jongwa Mdumata performed a ritual to bless the day's activities. Mdumata said they came to appreciate the natural environment that surrounded them, with plants and trees that were designed to sustain humanity and the earth. 'Let us preserve the natural environment amongst us,' he said. Hipor Hlathana, coordinator of the Traditional Healers Organisation's Langa branch, was part of the tree-planting efforts and has been a traditional healer since 2008. She explained that they use tree leaves and roots to heal the nation, but that they looked forward to learning more about sustainable ways of harvesting these materials. 'Families have got trees that belong to them. Part of the trees that belong to families is the Umnquma (Wild Olive tree) at Table Mountain, you cannot do any cultural event without a branch of it. But we know it is very scarce, so they are now going to equip and empower us more on how to harvest it because from generation to generation, we are still going to do cultural ceremonies,' said Hlathana. Umnquma is still going to be needed by generations to come, so Hlathana said it was their duty to ensure that it is harvested sustainably. Hlathana said that they needed more knowledge and information on how to do the harvesting for their medicine, and that they needed to find a way to balance conservation with cultural practices. Workshops with traditional healers are planned to discuss challenges and explore sustainable harvesting methods, hopefully ensuring the forest's preservation while respecting traditional practices. The traditional healers from THO who helped in the planting with SANParks were not the ones coming to the forest to strip the bark, but Taplin said they might be using the products and not know that it was unsustainably harvested and harming the environment. Replanting and future-proofing the forest Trevor Adams, based at the Cape Research Centre, provided further insight into the seedling planting process. With a horticultural background, Adams and the Biodiversity Social Projects (BSP) team have been diligently collecting and germinating seeds. He clarified that the plants being introduced are seedlings, not mature trees, since they are taking 'baby steps' to see what works best. The seedlings, including Cape Beech, Wild Almond, Bladder Nut and Cape Olive, are strategically planted, with taller, slower-growing trees placed next to faster-growing 'pioneer trees' to provide support, structure and shade, mimicking natural forest growth patterns. Taplin said: 'This is just the first such initiative of replanting in areas where they have been affected by bark stripping, where trees have died off, and there will be more in future. 'We need to try and curb illegal activities in the park… It's not so easy to contact the bark-stripping groups, because they're aware that they're doing an illegal activity, and they'll try not to be found. 'But that's why we want to engage with more traditional healers, so that they can make sure that where they are buying the bark from, it was sustainably harvested or harvested with a permit, instead of illegally harvested.' Looking ahead, SANParks plans to initiate a 'cultural demands survey' within the park to identify the various groups using Table Mountain National Park and the purposes of their visits, encompassing cultural, religious and recreational activities. While recreational users are well understood, there is a recognised lack of information about cultural, religious or spiritual uses, and new groups are continually being identified. Taplin said that understanding these diverse uses, including specific needs such as the requirement for fire in ceremonies or the use of particular plants, was crucial. She said the gathered information will enable SANParks to develop strategies that allow these needs to be met safely and sustainably within the park, fostering a collaborative approach rather than relying solely on apprehension for illegal activities. DM
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And what policies, exactly? The Agreement doesn't say. It offers no guidance on whether open public debate - complete with disagreement, critique, and messy facts - is essential to building trust in science and public institutions. Nor does it warn against the dangers of censorship during public health crises. It simply leaves it to each country to decide for itself what 'appropriate' means. In other words, it takes no position. And this is precisely the problem. In the name of trust, governments during the COVID-19 pandemic did not always build it - they sometimes undermined it. South Africa offers two powerful examples. First, Dr Glenda Gray, one of the country's most respected scientists and then-president of the Medical Research Council, publicly criticised aspects of the government's lockdown measures. The reaction from the Department of Health was swift: the Director-General requested that her employer, the Medical Research Council, investigate her. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ This wasn't scientific debate. It was an attempt to silence a dissenting voice. It was only after public uproar that the matter was dropped. Second, consider the ivermectin litigation saga. In December 2020, South Africa's medicines regulator, SAHPRA, triggered a controversy by incorrectly stating in a press release that ivermectin was 'not indicated … for use in humans', despite the fact that the drug had long been registered for certain human indications in South Africa. Some might label SAHPRA's statement as misinformation or even disinformation, but more plausibly, it was simply a careless - though consequential - error by a public authority. Yet the same press release went further, threatening with criminal enforcement against members of the public seeking to import ivermectin - an unnecessarily heavy-handed stance that swiftly provoked litigation. These are not stories from some distant autocracy. They happened here, in South Africa. And they highlight an uncomfortable truth: even well-meaning public institutions can slip into authoritarian habits under the pressure of a public health crisis. The antidote to authoritarian drift - and to official error - is freedom of expression. In Democratic Alliance v African National Congress, the Constitutional Court affirmed that freedom of expression is valuable not only for its intrinsic worth but also for its instrumental role in a democratic society. It informs citizens, fosters public debate, and enables the exposure of folly and misgovernance. It is also vital in the pursuit of truth—both personal and collective. If society suppresses views it deems unacceptable, those views may never be tested, challenged, or proven wrong. Open debate enhances truth-finding and allows us to scrutinise political claims and reflect on social values. This is why the South African Constitution enshrines freedom of expression - not as a luxury for peacetime, but as a safeguard for moments of crisis. Our Constitution was written with the memory of repression in mind. And it is precisely when fear and uncertainty tempt governments to silence dissent that its protections matter most. One might have expected an international agreement on pandemic response to affirm these same values. Yet the WHO Pandemic Agreement retreats into vagueness. It speaks of 'trust' and 'solidarity,' and warns against 'misinformation and disinformation,' but avoids the real issue: how should a democratic society respond when public health policies are contested? How do we protect space for critical voices? Instead of offering a principled stand, the Agreement offers a shrug. Countries are told to act 'as appropriate.' That could mean encouraging open dialogue—or it could mean criminalising dissent. The WHO doesn't say. And that silence speaks volumes. Professor Donrich Thaldar Image: University of KwaZulu-Natal
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Public Protector finds some Gauteng public hospitals failed to respond to COVID-19 pandemic
JOHANNESBURG -The Public Protector has found that "administrative deficiencies" led to some of Gauteng's public hospitals failure to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic. The provincial representative for Office of the Public Protector, Vusumuzi Dlamini, appeared before the Gauteng Legislature on Wednesday to release reports into some of his office investigations. In August 2020, at the height of the pandemic, the Public Protector investigated six public hospitals to determine how they were handling the influx of patients. As the country's most populated province, Gauteng had the highest number of people infected with the coronavirus. However, Dlamini said Gauteng hospitals were not prepared to effectively respond to this due to historical and present administrative challenges. Dlamini said that at the Jubilee Hospital, healthcare workers who contracted the virus were not always granted special leave as required. At the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, there were delays in the distribution of personal protective equipment, poor infrastructure, and no dedicated wards for psychiatric patients with COVID-19. Dlamini has directed all six of the hospital heads to present a report of how they plan to address these administrative deficiencies for the next pandemic or similar event.
