6th photo in the 6th folder - a tag

I’ve been tagged by Karen of Border Town Notes to locate the 6th photo in my 6th folder and talk about it. I'm guessing we're talking about my photographic folders here - which are many!


The photo above was taken a year or two ago in the arboretum just up the road from where I live. The arboretum was created in the 1886 by J Storr-Lister, the planter of the first commercial forests in South Africa. It covers an area of approximately 28ha, contains over 600 species of trees, several of which are over 100 years old, and it is a declared Provincial Heritage Site. The arboretum abuts an old manor house which dates back to 1795 and rise up the slopes of the Constantiaberg Mountain. The arboretum was originally created to test the adaptation of species from countries with a similar climate to South Africa, which means there are plenty of Australian specimens in the arboretum.

This shot is of one of the many eucalypts in the arboretum – there is something about these silvery-brown trunks which soar into the sky which makes them very photogenic. Limited as I am by the terms of the tag, I have to point out that this is not one of my better shots of these lovely trees. (Lovely trees, I should point out, which have a nasty habit of dropping heavy branches without warning!)


I first became well acquainted with the arboretum when, together with several eminent academics, I started and ran a small NGO - the aim of which was to try and prevent, amongst many other things, the South African National Parks (SANParks) from felling all the pines and eucalypts in the Table Mountain National Park. Although not indigenous (and thus out of line with botanical biodiversity objectives in an area described as a biodiversity “hotspot”) the plantations provide an invaluable shaded recreation area for the people of Cape Town – particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds. For many, the plantations have become a fundamental part of their cultural heritage. In fact, recognizing the significance of these shaded areas, the government had promised just a few years earlier, after having consulted with the people of Cape Town and several scientists, that these plantations would remain in perpetuity for the benefit of the people of Cape Town. It should be borne in mind that the plantations only make up about two percent of the entire Park and are effectively managed by a local forestry company. As such, their impact on matters “biodiversical” is minimal and, one would think their value in a hot and generally treeless environment, is significant.


Sadly, politics being what it is, the zeal for alien eradication (fauna and flora, and some would say human…) in the new South Africa being what it is and mad botanists being, well, myopic and mad, most of, if not all, the pines and eucalypts will be gone by 2020. Even the eucalypts in the arboretum are potentially under threat, including the one in the photograph.

Enjoy admiring this tree while it still stands and remember that few grasp the concept of balance and fewer still are able to accept that change and evolution are inevitable.


In time honoured tradition, I'm supposed to pass this tag on - but I know many of you have already done this one - if you haven't and would like to, consider yourself tagged.