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3.12 Country paper: South Africa

TROPICAL SECONDARY FOREST MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA:

Reality and perspectives
South Africa Country Paper
Written by
Coert J Geldenhuys
Forestwood
cc, P O Box 228
La Montagne 0184,
South Africa

FOR THE
FAO/EC LNV/GTZ

WORKSHOP ON TROPICAL SECONDARY FOREST MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA:

Reality and perspectives
In collaboration with ICRAF and CIFOR
Nairobi, Kenya, 9-13 December 2002

SUMMARY

Natural forests in South Africa cover about 0,1 per cent of the country, and consist of many small, fragmented and widely distributed patches. They persist in a relatively dry landscape. Fires driven by hot, dry winds during the dry season determined this fragmented location pattern of the forests. Human use and clearing of forests have aggravated this fragmentation. Changing the fire regime, for protection of the cultivated crops and plantation forestry, have contributed to the recovery of forest vegetation in many areas.

Secondary forests are discussed in relation to the distribution and habitats of eight groups of natural forest types, and against the background of the natural disturbance processes. Many of the forests were subjected to uncontrolled timber harvesting, but this has come to an end by 1939, and today timber harvesting based on a sophisticated single-tree selection system (following the natural disturbance regime) is practiced in two relatively small areas. This has enabled the forests to recover from their secondary state into well-developed mature forests. The changed fire regimes, with less extreme fire conditions, has led to the natural successional development towards forest, even in grassland, shrubland and woodland areas that were not covered by forest during the current climatic regime. Commercial timber plantations provide nurse stands for the establishment of natural forest species, and form the basis of efforts to rehabilitate forest cost-effectively. Relatively small areas of swidden fallow secondary forest occur, because of the practice of agriculture in mainly grassland, wooded grassland and woodland areas (rarely clearing of forest for that purpose). The change in land use practices, particularly the urbanization process, has left some rural areas abandoned, and this has led to the development of secondary woody vegetation, including forests.

The new political dispensation provided a different approach to the management of forests (a large proportion of natural forests are in state forest reserves and other protected areas) and the utilization of timber and non-wood forest products. The National Forests Act, the Participatory Forest Management approach, and the set of Criteria, Indicators and Standards, provide the framework for better management of forest resources that will benefit all the different stakeholders.

The forest rehabilitation systems, developed on the basis of the nursing role of plantation forestry stands of pines, eucalypts and wattles, provide a means to use secondary forests as part of the development of small business in rural environments that will also contribute to forest recovery. However, appropriate management procedures will have to be followed to ensure that resource use needs for business development are within the production capacity of the resources that are utilized. Where the production capacity of the natural resources is inadequate to provide the expressed needs, alternative resources can be developed from better management of the secondary systems that do develop. Guidelines are provided for the selection of suitable indigenous species for use, and on the approach to the establishment of such secondary forest systems.

Introduction

Disturbance and recovery are integral ecological processes in the dynamics and level of biodiversity of all forests. The human interferences caused when resources are harvested from the forests, or when forests are cleared for shorter or longer periods of time for cultivating other crops, are severe or mild simulations of the natural disturbance processes. As such they would determine the starting point for recovery, and recovery rate (or time frame for recovery). This paper follows the definition of secondary forest adopted by the workshop and based on Chokkalingham and De Jong (2001). It defines secondary forests as "forests that are regenerating largely through natural processes after significant disturbance of the original forest vegetation at a single point in time or over an extended period, and displaying a major difference in forest structure and/or canopy species composition with respect to the nearby primary forests on similar sites". This definition poses several questions for defining primary and secondary forests in South Africa when considered in a natural disturbance-recovery framework. The one question would be how long after a disturbance could/would a degraded forest remains a secondary forest, and what are the criteria then to determine when that forest had advanced in its recovery to be called a mature forest. Would it be the disturbance agent (tree cutting, fire, wind, flooding, insects), or the frequency and intensity with which they occur, or the habitat in which they act, or a combination of these, or the time period since it happened, that determine whether we perceive a particular forest as primary or secondary. Some of these questions will be addressed in later parts of the paper.

The Terms of Reference (ToR) provided for the writing of the country papers for the Workshop on Tropical Secondary Forest Management in Africa indicated that secondary forests are those forests that are regenerating or redeveloping (in a stage of succession or recovery) after the original forest had been degraded. The structure or canopy species composition or both of the secondary forest is very different as compared to the primary forest. Five principal categories/types of tropical secondary forests have been recognised and found in other parts of the world, and described in the ToR. These categories will be used in this paper to assess the status of secondary forest in South Africa, and are defined as follows:

In all the cases the original forest canopy was significantly reduced by a particular disturbance at a single point in time or over an extended period, and displayed a major change in forest structure and/or canopy species composition from that of potential primary/natural forest on similar site conditions in the area. The secondary forest is recovering but has not yet attained the canopy height, structure and/or canopy species composition of the original primary/natural forest after a long time without significant disturbance.

The following kinds of forests are not considered as secondary forests:

Planted stands of trees, indigenous or introduced, for the purpose of timber production or other specific resource use.

Deciduous woodland as a vegetation formation that covers large areas in the northern parts of the country, as determined by climatic constraints and the prevalence of fire.

SOUTH AFRICA In brief

South Africa is a country of contrasts in terms of the density and socio-economic status of the people, the amount of rainfall per annum and its natural vegetation. In 2001 the population was an estimated 45,5 million, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was US$2570 per capita (PGMM Group 2002). The contribution to the GDP in 2001, by sector, was as follows (Statistics SA 2002): Primary industries, 10,98 per cent (agriculture 3,47 per cent, forestry 0,56 per cent, mining and quarrying 7,5 per cent); Secondary industries, 23,98 per cent (Manufacturing, electricity and water supply, and construction); Tertiary industries (services), 65,04 per cent.

Only 7 per cent of the country has a mean annual precipitation exceeding 800 mm, i.e. areas where timber production from plantation forestry (commercial growing of pines, eucalypts and other similar species) is successful, and in this area plantation forestry has to compete with agriculture. About 35 per cent of the country has a mean annual precipitation less than 300 mm. Although at least 7 per cent of the country is potentially suitable for forest growth on the basis of climate and substrate, forest covers just more than 3 000 km2 or 0,1 per cent of the land area of South Africa (Geldenhuys 2000a). This area varies depending on the reliability of the methods used (mapping down to minimum forest size of 50 ha, 30 ha or 1 ha, and using satellite or aerial photographs). Natural evergreen forest in South Africa is the smallest and also the most widely dispersed biome. Forests occur as a series of scattered patches along the eastern and southern margins (escarpment, mountain ranges and coastal lowlands) of South Africa, from the Soutpansberg (inland, 22o40'S) and Tongaland (coast, 27oS) to the Cape Peninsula (34oS) (Cooper 1985; Von Breitenbach 1990; Von Maltitz et al 2002). They occur with rainfall intensity ranging from 500 mm to 2 000 mm (Geldenhuys 2000a), but in general they are limited to areas above 725 mm rainfall in the summer rainfall regions and 525 mm rainfall in the all-year and winter rainfall regions (Rutherford and Westfall 1986). They may, however, also be found along rivers and in protected kloofs (gorges) in lower rainfall areas (Von Maltitz et al 2002). In the drier inland areas mountains provide important sites for development of forest, e.g. the southern slopes of the Soutpansberg (Geldenhuys and Murray 1993) and in sheltered valleys in the southwestern Cape (McKenzie 1978; Masson 1990; Geldenhuys 1997a). The substrates include a wide range of geological formations: quartzitic sandstones, mudstones, shales, schists, aeolian sands, enon conglomerates, dolerites and granite-gneiss (Geldenhuys 2000a).  The derived soils vary in depth, water-holding capacity and nutrient status. 

The largest single forest (25 706 ha) occurs in the south and is part of a forest complex of 60 560 ha at 34oS and between 22oE and 24o30'E (Geldenhuys 1991). The Amatole forest complex in the Eastern Cape covers 40 550 ha between 32oS and 33oS latitude, and 26oE and 27o30'E longitude (Thompson 1991) with a single unit of >8 000 ha in the Pirie-Isidenge-Kubusie area (Phillipson 1987). In Kwazulu-Natal the Dukuduku forest is the largest (3 500 ha) but is seriously threatened by uncontrolled settlement of people (Cooper 1985). The Woodbush-De Hoek forest (6 626 ha) is the largest forest along the North-eastern Escarpment (Scheepers 1978; Cooper 1985). The majority of forest patches are less than 10 ha in size, i.e. they are characterized by a large ratio of forest margin to forest area. This accentuates the importance of forest margins in forest survival. Forest margins are generally well-developed where regular fires and cultivation are absent.

Mixed evergreen forest covered the largest part of Africa until the eastern escarpment formed and separated the moist coastal belt from the arid interior (Deacon et al 1983).  Increasing aridity developed (combined with longer dry seasons), and increased fire frequency contributed to the expansion of fire-adapted woodland, wooded grassland, grassland and shrubland. The relic nature of the forests within the grasslands, shrublands and woodlands has been attributed to the destructive activities of man during the recent past (100 to 300 years). However, most of the present South African grassland existed throughout the Holocene and was not induced by recent forest clearing (Feely 1986). Fires associated with hot, desiccating winds have further fragmented the forests (Geldenhuys 1994a), and forest persisted in `fire refugia' or `wind shadow' areas (Figure 1). The fragmentation has however been aggravated by continuing land use practices, such as clearing for agriculture, subsistence utilisation, and veld burning practices for grazing and water runoff in catchments (Cooper 1985; Geldenhuys and MacDevette 1989; Geldenhuys 1991). Secondary forests in South Africa will be assessed against this reality of forest fragmentation over millennia.

Figure 1: Schematic view of hypothetical airflow across and around topographic barriers to show the persistence of forest in wind-shadow areas in relation to wind-driven fires (adapted from Geldenhuys 1994a).

Commercial forestry plantations of pines, eucalypts, acacias and other species were established in the grasslands and shrublands surrounding the forests, and rarely in areas where evergreen forest was cleared. The plantations aided the rehabilitation of the forests, and expansion in places, reduced pressure on the forests for timber, fibre and firewood needs, and protected forest margins against frequent fires (Geldenhuys et al. 1986). The commercial timber plantations currently cover an area of roughly 1.487 million ha, comprising 53.2 per cent pines of various species, 39.2 per cent eucalypts of various species, and 7.6 per cent acacias (mainly Acacia mearnsii) and other species.

Ownership determines the type and quality of forest management and possible impacts on the vegetation (Phillips 1963; Cooper 1985; Cawe 1986; McKenzie 1988; Cooper and Swart 1992). Most of the forests occur in areas surrounded by areas of high population density. Some forests occur in areas surrounded by `developed' affluent societies. In such areas the people strive to satisfy higher-order needs, such as high-quality furniture and crafts, recreation and eco-tourism, and biodiversity conservation. In general the forests expand with a small impact from infrastructure development (roads, power lines, dams, housing complexes). Other forests occur in areas surrounded by `developing' poor rural communities. In such areas, traditional subsistence practices are used to satisfy the livelihood needs, such as building material, fuelwood, food and medicine, and other household goods. The actions are poverty driven because people lack alternative income generating activities. Such activities often lead to forest degradation. The challenge is to move the living standards of the rural poor towards higher income-generating levels of society, and secondary forests can play a major role to satisfy this challenge.

The National and Provincial Governments and statutory bodies manage and control a very large proportion of the forests (and the largest forests), and only a small portion is privately owned (Cooper 1985; Geldenhuys 1991). Conserved forests in South Africa range from forests in private and tribal ownership that are in good condition, to forests in conservancies and natural heritage sites, through to forests in nature reserves and wilderness areas proclaimed under the Forest Act. There are many forests outside the proclaimed areas that are well conserved but with insecure conservation status. Geldenhuys and Macdevette (1989) defined conserved forests as those forests in the custody of government authorities, including National Parks Board and city councils. The forest types and forest complexes in southern Africa are generally well conserved (Geldenhuys and MacDevette 1989; Von Maltitz et al 2002), but various sources still exert pressures on these forests (McKenzie 1988; Geldenhuys and Macdevette 1989; Von Maltitz et al 2002):

The purpose of this paper is to present a broad overview on secondary forests in South Africa, their extent, status, related policies, and management in relation to the natural fragmentation (as discussed above) and use of the forests.

Characteristics and extent of secondary forests in south africa

The characteristics of the main types of secondary forest are discussed below in relation to the main forest groups and types recently described by Von Maltitz et al (2002). The area covered by each forest group and associated types are not known at present, and therefore the areas of each type of secondary forest within these vegetation units are not known.

Southern Afrotemperate Forest Group

Western Cape Afrotemperate and Talus forests (mainly winter rainfall area) and the Southern Cape Afrotemperate forests (mainly all-year rainfall area) occur in the southwestern and southern areas of South Africa, near the coast. They are short scrub forest to tall-grown, multi-layered forest, depending on their position in the landscape. The Southern Cape forests typically show the altitudinal and landscape zonation into moist to wet mountain forests, dry to moist coastal platform forests, and high to low dry coastal scarp forests (Geldenhuys 1993a). The geology is mainly quartzitic sandstones, with small areas of shale, schist, granite and coastal sands. Rainfall ranges between 500 and 1200 mm per year in the Southern Cape (Geldenhuys 1991). The forests occur in fire-refugia such as sheltered valleys and gorges and leeward slopes (Geldenhuys 1994a), and are surrounded by the fire-adapted sclerophyll shrubland (fynbos) vegetation. In many areas timber plantations were planted in the fynbos areas adjacent to the forest. The Western Cape forests have been heavily logged and partly cleared since the arrival of European settlers in 1652 (Masson and Moll 1987), and the Southern Cape forests since about 1750 (Phillips 1963), but uncontrolled timber harvesting was stopped since 1939. Controlled harvesting through a sophisticated and conservative single-tree selection system was implemented in about 20 per cent of the Southern Cape forests since 1965, with various modifications since then (Von dem Bussche 1975; Geldenhuys 1980; Seydack 1995; Vermeulen 2000).

Northern Afrotemperate Forest Group

Two sub-groups occur, i.e. the Marekele Afromontane and Northern Highveld Forests (in small patches in dry kloofs on the highveld mountain ranges surrounded by savanna and deciduous woodland), and the Drakensberg Montane and Northern KwaZulu-Natal Mistbelt Forests (below scarps and cliffs and in narrow gorges at high altitude along the Drakensberg mountains surrounded by grassland). This group comprises small-sized, species-poor, low-grown forests in fire refugia, at 1500-1900 m, in the inland parts of the country. The geology is generally sandstones and quartzites, shales and mudstones, with volcanic rock in places. They occur in the summer rainfall areas with cold winters, with snow in the Drakensberg areas and frost in the other areas. Most of these forests are included within conservation areas (public and private). In the Drakensberg area forest margins are damaged through wrong burning practices of the grasslands in the water catchments (Everard 1986).

Northern Mistbelt Forest Group

Northern Mistbelt and Mpumalanga Mistbelt forests are tall-grown, evergreen to semi-deciduous Afrotemperate forests occurring primarily in east to south facing fire-refugia where they form small to large forests. They occur in the west-east orientated Soutpansberg mountains and the north-south orientated North-eastern and Mpumalanga escarpments. In both areas tall moist evergreen forest occurs in the mistbelt at altitudes up to 1800 m, and semi-deciduous forest occurs as scrub or regrowth forest on the lower slopes and foothills and as riverine forest along the upper reaches of the main river systems. Annual rainfall varies from 1800 mm at higher altitude to 600 mm at lower altitudes. It is a summer rainfall area with a high incidence of mist precipitation at higher altitudes. Geology includes shales, quartzite, dolomite, granite and diabase. These forests border on sourveld grasslands in the mistbelt and open to closed woodland in the foothills. Pine and eucalypt plantations and commercial farming areas surround the forests in many areas. All the forests were subjected to timber harvesting in the past, mainly for two Podocarpus species (many saw pits scattered throughout the forests in the mistbelt) but this has come to an end by 1939.

Southern Mistbelt Forest Group

Eastern Mistbelt, Transkei Mistbelt and Amatole Mistbelt forests are small to large (>1500 ha) patches on the southeastern to southwestern mountain scarps and foot slopes, plateaux scarps and protected valleys in the interior of the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape Provinces. Altitude varies between 850 and 1600 m. It is a summer rainfall area with annual rainfall between 600 and 1800 mm. Summer mist precipitation is common. The geology is mainly dolerite intrusions, mudstones, shales, sandstones and quartzitic sandstones. The forests range from tall stands in the moister parts to scrub forest in the lower foot slopes. Grassland and commercial pine timber plantations surround the forests. Many of the forests are within protected state forests but are surrounded by rural communities. Timber harvesting, particularly of three Podocarpus species, and pole harvesting of Ptaeroxylon obliquum, occurred in theses forests, but uncontrolled harvesting was stopped in 1939. Timber harvesting from the Amatole forests was recently resumed on a controlled and small scale (Vermeulen 2000). The Southern Mistbelt forests are currently the target of uncontrolled harvesting of bark for traditional medicine (Geldenhuys in press a, b), poles for construction, and firewood. In some areas the forests are cleared for the growing of crops.

Scarp Forest Group

Eastern Scarp, Pondoland Scarp and Transkei Coastal Platform forests are small to large and associated with steep slopes, scarps and cliffs, coastal gorges, and coastal platforms. They occur in the summer rainfall area with annual rainfall between 440 and 1400 mm. The geology is mainly quartzitic sandstone outcrops, syenitic granite and rhyolite. The forests grow mainly close to the coast but some occur further inland in the northern part of the range. They are surrounded by grassland and only occasionally by commercial timber plantations. Some forests occur in formally protected areas, surrounded by rural communities. Some of the forests were subjected to timber harvesting in the past, but recently subsistence harvesting of poles and firewood still exert pressure on the Eastern Scarp forests (Muir 1990). In the Transkei Coastal Platform forests, Millettia grandis is an important tree used for building poles and woodcarving, and grow as a pioneer tree on the forest margins (Van Eack et al 1997; Obiri 2002). These forests are under pressure from clearing for growing of crops on a permanent basis.

Northern Coastal Forest Group

KwaZulu-Natal Coastal and Dune forests occur on coastal (rolling) plains built by geologically young sediments of the Indian Ocean seaboard as well as on accompanied cordons of stabilized coastal dunes. They are particularly well developed on the deep sandy soils of Maputaland. It is a summer rainfall area with annual rainfall between 500 mm and 1100 mm. Iron-age smelters used these forests intensively since about 1600 years ago (Feely 1980). Dune mining for heavy minerals is the current cause for forest degradation (Van Aarde et al 1996; Wassenaar and Van Aarde 2000). More than 80 per cent of these areas are currently under conservation management. Commercial timber plantations, mainly eucalypt, surround some of the forests. The main use was, and still is in some parts, for firewood and building material and non-wood forest products, including medicinal plants, by rural communities.

Southern Coastal Forest Group

Albany Coastal forests on the undulating coastal plains in the Eastern Cape, the Eastern Cape Dune forests on the coastal dunes, and Western Cape Milkwood forests on coastal dunes and lowlands, are more confined in their area and distribution. The Eastern Cape coastal forests are surrounded by subtropical succulent thicket in areas of too low rainfall and/or substrate constraints. The Western Cape Milkwood forests occur on stabilized coastal dunes and limestone outcrops in the Southern and Western Cape areas. The rainfall ranges from summer to all-year rainfall in the Eastern and Southern Cape, and winter rainfall in the Western Cape. Annual rainfall ranges from as low as 450 mm to 900 mm. Poles and timber trees, mainly Ptaeroxylon obliquum for fence poles and railway sleepers, were harvested from the Albany forests (Geldenhuys 1977). The main threat to these forests is currently uncontrolled coastal resort development, and clearing of the Albany Coastal forests for dairy farming.

Azonal Forest Group

This group comprises totally unrelated forest types that cover very specialised habitats, such as the Lowveld Riverine Forests (as gallery forests along rivers running through savanna or woodland), Swamp and Mangrove forests (in the area of the Northern Coastal Group), and Licuati Sand Forests (northern part of the Northern Coastal Group).

Secondary forests within forest groups

The importance of each type of secondary forest, as described below, is indicated in Table X for each forest type within each of the forest groups, as described by Von Maltitz et al. (2002) and discussed above.

Post extraction secondary forest

Most of the forests are in an advanced stage of recovery since the early heavy extraction, (where forest had not been cleared). The canopy structure and species composition are similar to areas that had never been logged, such as in the Southern Cape forests (Geldenhuys 1993a,b), the Southern Mistbelt forests (Cawe 1986; Everard and Hardy ; Geldenhuys in press a), the Northern Mistbelt forests (Geldenhuys and Venter in press), and the Albany Coastal forests (Geldenhuys 1977). The recent harvesting of bark in the Eastern Mistbelt forests led to the death of many trees, but may contribute to the regeneration of those species both from seed and from coppice regrowth (Geldenhuys in press a). Some degraded Transkei Coastal Platform forests are in a recovery stage, dominated by Millettia grandis (Obiri 2002).

Table 1: Importance of different types of secondary forests in different forest groups and forest types in South Africa

Group

Forest types

Types of Secondary forests

PE

PF

SF

RF

PA

O

Southern Afrotemperate

Western Cape Talus
Western Cape Afrotemperate
Southern Cape Afrotemperate

-
++
+++

++
+++
+++

-
+
+

-
++
+++

++
++
++

+
+

Northern Afrotemperate

Marekele Afromontane
Northern Highveld
Drakensberg Montane
Northern KZN Mistbelt

-
-
+
++

++
++
+
+

-
-
++
++

-
-
-
-

++
++
++
++

+
+
+
+

Northern Mistbelt

Northern Mistbelt
Mpumalanga Mistbelt

+++
+++

+++
+++

+
+

+
+

++
++

+
+

Southern Mistbelt

Eastern Mistbelt
Transkei Mistbelt
Amatole Mistbelt

+++
+++
+++

++
++
++

+
+
+

++
++
++

+
+
++

+

Scarp

Eastern Scarp
Pondoland Scarp
Transkei Coastal Platform

+++
+
+++

++
++
++

++
+
+++

++
+
+

+
+
++

 

Northern Coastal

KZNatal Coastal
KZN Dune

+
+

+
+

++
++

++
++

+++
+

+

Southern Coastal

Eastern Cape Dune
Albany Coastal
Western Cape Milkwood

+
+++
+

+
+
+

++
++
+

++
++
++

++
++
+++

++

Azonal Forests

Lowveld Riverine
Swamp
Mangrove
Licuati Sand

+
+++
+++
+++

+
+++
+
+

+
+++
+
++

-
++
+
+

++
+++
+
++

 

Legend: PE = Post Extraction; PF = Post Fire; SF = Swidden Fallow; RF = Rehabilitated; PA = Post Abandonment; O = Other. Importance: +++ = common; ++ = present; + = rare; - = not present?

Post fire secondary forest

Only where fire is controlled directly or indirectly through plantation forestry and crop agriculture, have the forests regrown and expanded. Two types of post fire secondary forest can be considered, i.e. natural regrowth in grassland, shrubland and woodland without or with a nurse of planted trees:

Swidden fallow secondary forest

Slash-and-burn is practiced in some areas, particularly in the Transkei Coastal Platform forests (Hassan and Haveman 1997; Obiri 2002), the Licuati Sand forests (Matthews et al 1999, 2001), and the Swamp forests (Wessels 1997). Control measures by the conservation authorities have contributed to the regeneration and recovery of some of the degraded and even cleared forest. In some forests small gaps have been cleared for the illegal growing of Cannabis sativa (Northern and Southern Mistbelt forests, Drakesburg forests, Scarp forests). Control of this practice by the police has led to the regeneration of forest, but no data is available on the regeneration.

There was no slash-and-burn practice in the Southern Cape forests to sustain rural livelihoods. Two experimental areas were established in this way to restore forest. The Diepwalle Arboretum (Lubbe and Geldenhuys 1991) and the Reid-se-Draai Taungya plot (Geldenhuys 1975) were established through a slash-and-burn stage combined with planting trees amongst the vegetable plants.

Rehabilitated secondary forest

Several practices have been followed to rehabilitate forest.

Post abandonment secondary forest

In the Northern Mistbelt forests, some areas that had been used for subsistence agriculture and later abandoned, became covered in regrowth forest (Scheepers et al 1968; Geldenhuys and Murray 1993). Acacia ataxacantha, Trema orientalis, Rhus chirindensis and Prunus africana are important components in the moister parts of the regrowth areas. In several areas of Transkei Coastal Plantform forest, where crop cultivation was abandoned and grass burning for livestock grazing minimized, the forest expanded or became established. Such forest patches can be seen as bush clumps outside of the main forests. Along the KwaZulu-Natal Dune forest, abandonment of the clearing of forest for iron smelting and the movement of rural communities from the dunes around 1935 led to the recovery of large areas of formerly cleared forest. The main pioneer forest species are Acacia karroo in some areas and Apodytes dimidiata (coastal form, see Van Wyk and Van Wyk 1997) in others (Von Maltitz et al 1996). The Marekele and Northern Highveld forests occur within or close to the large urban areas of Johannesburg, Pretoria and Pietersburg. Through the absence of logging, the use and care associated with recreational use, and the control of fire in the urban areas, on farms and holiday resorts, and in nature reserves, the forests have recovered where they were in a degraded state before.

Other types of secondary forest

The progressing beach area in the Mtunzini area of KwaZulu-Natal Dune forest led to the development of dunes on the coastal side of old dune forest and the succession of the vegetation from herbaceous plants on the fore dunes through a shrub stage and secondary forest on the intermediate dunes through to mature dune forest (Weisser et al 1982; Van Daalen et al 1986). Protection of these forests by Conservation authorities and management of areas for recreation contribute to the recovery of dune forest. The stabilising of coastal dunes has led to an increase in woody vegetation. Many of the longer protected dunes become established with trees of Sideroxylon inerme (milkwood), Pittosporum viridiflorum and a range of other scrub forest and dune forest species, from the Eastern Cape to the Western Cape.

Socio-economic and ecological importance of the different secondary forest types

Recognition of the values of forests is one of the basic requirements in order to reduce conflicts in land use options. The forests in South Africa play a role in the welfare of society that is disproportionately greater than their small extent and low potential for commercial exploitation. Studies of resource use have made no distinction between the use of primary and secondary forests. McKenzie (1988) recognized many direct uses and indirect values of the South African forests. A desktop study showed that 365 of the 568 tree and shrub species recorded from 14 forest complexes throughout South Africa were used for a wide range of direct uses (Table 1; Geldenhuys 1999). A recent survey of 21 villages for forest resource accounting in the Eastern Cape Province (with many forests in poor rural areas) showed much informal commercial and subsistence use of the forests (Hassan and Haveman 1997). A total of 140 tree and shrub `species' were recorded, some of which are more widely and generally used than others, but not all are indigenous species. The uses include a variety of poles (mainly for construction), firewood, crafts (from timber and non-timber species), binding and weaving, food sources (vegetables, fruits, and meat), and traditional medicine (bark, roots and other sources). Poverty of rural people and their inability to afford alternative commodities cause a continuous use of products from the forests and increased forest clearing to grow crops to support their families.

Climbers, leaves, leaf petioles and tree bark are sources of binding materials (Cunningham and Gwala 1986). Wood use for building varies with building style and availability of materials but a variety of species have been recorded (Johnson 1982, 1983; Cunningham 1985; McKenzie 1988; Van Eck et al. 1997; Obiri 2002; Obiri et al. in press), several of which are pioneer trees, such as Millettia grandis and Ptaeroxylon obliquum.

Table 1: Number of tree and shrub species in the South African forests which have been or are still used traditionally and/or commercially (Geldenhuys 1999)

Category and uses

Canopy trees

Sub-canopy trees

Woody shrubs

Total in forests

Total used

109

102

185

143

274

120

Timber

Furniture

Construction

Poles

Fuelwood

Ornamental

43

40

15

18

45

13

26

22

25

42

-

6

6

4

18

Traditional medicine

(by plant part used)

Leaves

Fruit

Bark

Roots

Other

10

2

34

10

18

22

5

34

17

16

15

2

4

13

13

Food

(by plant part used)

Leaves

Fruit

Roots

Other

-

29

2

2

3

38

-

2

3

29

2

-

Crafts

(from other than timber)

Basket

Weaving

Binding

Other (including dyes)

-

1

2

6

2

-

7

12

3

-

6

2

Other uses

Horticulture

Floristic

Other

83

-

15

100

2

10

93

-

12

Fuelwood represents the highest volume of forest products used by rural people (Basson 1987) and is particularly severe where the forests are not surrounded by woodland or plantations and woodlots of introduced species (McKenzie 1988). Acacia karroo, a pioneer species in many forest areas along the coast, is an important firewood species (Hassan and Haveman 1997; Van Eck et al. 1997).

Traditional medicines are important to rural communities for medical, psychosomatic and economic reasons (McKenzie 1988). Urbanisation of rural people generated a local and countrywide multi-million Rand annual trade between rural source areas and urban markets and shops (Cunningham 1986; Williams et al. 1997; Mander 1998). This trade increased the pressure on the forests in the rural areas. For example, in the Umzimkulu district in the Eastern Cape, most of the harvesting takes place in the forest interior, but several species are known to grow better along the forest margin, such as Rapanea melanophloeos, Prunus africana, and Ocotea bullata (also regrow rapidly from coppice).

Coastal Forest and Dune Forest have more species bearing fleshy fruits (a primary source of vitamin C) whereas Sand Forest has the highest diversity of fruit-bearing species (Cunningham 1985; McKenzie 1988). Some of the species listed by Van Eck et al. (1997) occur also in regrowth forest, such as Englerophytum natalense and Harpephyllum caffrum.

Several home crafts are based on sources from the forest (McKenzie 1988). Various palms, reeds and climbers are used, mainly for baskets and mats, such as Flagellaria guineensis (Cawe and Ntloko 1997) and Secamone alpini (Venter 2000), and the pioneer tree Millettia grandis is used in woodcarving (Obiri and Lawes 1997). All the mentioned species are associated with regrowth forest. Around Port St Johns (Eastern Cape coast) over 100 people are directly employed in craftwork and they earn an annual income of over 0.2 million US$ (Obiri and Lawes 1997).

With the settlement of the European in southern Africa since 1652, large diameter trees of selected species were harvested for building and furniture timber, and for railway sleepers (King 1938, 1941; Phillips 1963; McKenzie et al. 1977; Scheepers 1978; Cawe 1986). Furniture timber is currently provided mainly from the relatively large southern Cape forests where this industry has an annual turnover of >15 million Rand (about US$4 million) and employs about 650 people, and from the Amatole forests (Geldenhuys 1996b; Vermeulen 1999). Today commercial plantations of pines, eucalypts and wattles, covering >1.4 million ha, provide in the structural timber needs of the region. They were established in the grasslands and shrublands surrounding the forests, and rarely in areas where evergreen forest were cleared. The plantations aided the rehabilitation of the forests, and expansion in places, reduced pressure on the forests for timber, fibre and firewood needs, and protected forest margins against frequent fires (Geldenhuys et al. 1986). Several good timber species can grow fast outside the forest if planted in suitable sites and managed appropriately (Lubbe and Geldenhuys 1991; Geldenhuys and Von dem Bussche 1997), and several of these establish naturally under nurse stands (Van Wyk et al. 1995; Geldenhuys 1997; Geldenhuys and Delvaux 2002).

Fronds (leaves) of the fern Rumohra adiantiformis are used extensively in the florist trade, both locally and abroad. The development of the export market for the fern since 1981 has developed into a lucrative local industry employing 200 - 300 people (Milton 1987a,b; Geldenhuys and Van der Merwe 1988; Geldenhuys 1994b). During 1994/5 2,2 million fronds were harvested from the forest over a total area of 15 000 ha and sold for a value of almost US$125.000. The bulk of the fronds are currently produced from shade-cloth nurseries, and with irrigation from planting under pine stands and the forest understorey. This species is an early regrowth species and indicative of secondary forest after fire (Geldenhuys 1993a, 1994; Geldenhuys and Van der Merwe 1994).

Forests play an increasingly important role in providing for the recreation and aesthetics of the growing urbanized and industrialized societies of southern Africa. Many picnic sites, viewpoints, camping sites, forest walks and hiking trails in forests offer unique experiences (Levy 1987; Van Dijk 1987). The care taken with the management of recreation sites has contributed to forest recovery in several areas.

Forests also have cultural importance as burial sites (Netshiungani et al. 1981; McKenzie 1988). Undisturbed forest and wooded copses persist around major grave sites in many parts of South Africa due to the acknowledged importance of the role that ancestral spirits play in daily life and the value of ensuring them peace (Parker 1982). Such sites become important source areas for the colonisation of disturbed sites in the vicinity.

Current management practices of secondary forests

The secondary forests that developed after the earlier uncontrolled timber harvesting have developed in good mature forest. The initial timber exploitation and destruction of forests was followed by forest protection since 1939 and the development of sustainable forest management systems (King 1938; Phillips 1963; Geldenhuys 1980). Today timber and other minor but important forest products are utilized conservatively from ecologically suitable but small areas of State Forest. Two large forest complexes, the Southern Cape and Amatole forests, are mainly state-controlled and managed under a formal multiple-use system, with close monitoring to ensure sustainable use (McKenzie 1988; Seydack et al. 1990; Geldenhuys 1994b; Seydack 1995; Vermeulen 2000). Scientific and multiple use management principles were developed in the Southern Cape forests and are applied through five management classes (production 19,8 per cent; protection 55,8 per cent, nature reserves 23 per cent, recreation 0,4 per cent and research 1,1 per cent) in order to sustain utilization of forest products, recreation, and conservation.

The only formal system for the management of secondary forest is applied in the Southern Cape forests. Forest rehabilitation forms part of the forest management plan activities in the Southern Cape forests managed by the Indigenous Forest Management Programme of the Chief Directorate of Forestry (Vermeulen 2000). These activities are aimed at the rehabilitation of destroyed forest areas, the conversion of abandoned plantation areas to consolidate existing forest patches, and to consolidate the forest edge into manageable borders such as a river or road. It is not intended for resource use. Three methods are generally used (Von dem Bussche 1975; Van Daalen 1988; Van Wyk et al 1995).

i. Along narrow strips adjacent to moister forest it is sufficient to only regularly eliminate alien vegetation for sufficient tree regeneration of forest species to occur;

ii. In wider belts, drier sites and other sites with sparse regeneration, a range of species is planted in scattered mixed groups, followed by intensive tending;

iii. In exposed sites the widely spaced trees of the legume pioneer tree, Virgilia divaricata, is used as a nurse stand and with inter-planting of other forest species.

The current areas managed under this system in the Southern Cape forests total 215,7 ha for 52 sites, i.e. on average 4,15 ha per site with the largest area of a site 24,8 ha and the smallest 0,14 ha (J. Baard, pers com, 2002). A much larger area have been rehabilitated since 1965, but when an area has developed a good cover of regrowth or secondary forest, it is incorporated into the adjacent compartment of mature forest, and not recorded as a rehabilitation area.

For many years the Southern Cape was the only area where formal, proactive, scientific management of the forests was practiced, and mainly for timber production. The rapidly expanding network of recreation facilities formed an important part of developing multiple use of the forests (Levy 1987). Fern harvesting, when implemented in 1982, was met with much opposition (Geldenhuys and Van der Merwe 1988), but now forms and important part of forest management. Control of forests, and particularly resource use, was done through law enforcement and the issue of permits for the use of resources for subsistence use. In the rural communal areas, forests were, and still are, managed for a low-income subsistence utilization of the headmen's forests for building material, fuelwood and household goods.

Resource use from forests in many of the rural areas causes conflicts with government authorities (forestry and nature conservation) with the responsibility to ensure the conservation of the forests. The authorities control the harvesting of resources through a permit system, but even the very low permit rates exceed what the locals can pay, which leads to illegal activities. In some areas deforestation is continuing at an alarming rate, primarily for maize cultivation, to provide in the daily food needs of the very poor people. Cutting trees for construction poles and firewood is a secondary cause of forest degradation, but considered essential as the rural people have no money to buy such products. This degradation of the forest causes the loss of other sources of income such as woodcrafts and the basket industry. The Eastern Cape Resource Accounting survey (Hassan and Haveman 1997) indicated a number of wrong perceptions on both sides that relate partly to the real meaning of sustainability, and partly to the true dependence of the poor rural communities on the forests for their daily livelihood. This accentuates the need for implementation of joint resource management strategies in the rural areas to resolve the conflicts and to ensure sustainable resource use and socio-economic development.

Institutional and political issues governing the management of secondary forests

Control of the forest substance, including the different stages of forest development, is embedded in the new National Forests Act (Act No. 84 of 1998). It was clear that legislation and law enforcement alone would not save the natural forests from destruction. One option is to consider the value of forests to people and add value to forest products, in line with the government's policy of sustainable development (DWAF 1997). The National Forests Act of 1998 gives the responsible Minister the power to set criteria, indicators and standards for assessing and enforcing sustainable forest management, and to create incentives to manage forests sustainably. The principles to guide such decisions are that:

i. natural forests must not be destroyed save in exceptional circumstances (where a forest includes a natural forest, the forest produce in it and the ecosystems which it makes up; and a natural forest is a group of indigenous trees whose crowns are largely contiguous or have been declared by the Minister to be a natural forest);

ii. forests must be developed and managed so as to:

a. conserve biological diversity, ecosystems and habitats,

b. sustain the potential yield of their economic, social and environmental benefits,

c. promote the fair distribution of their economic, social, health and environmental benefits,

d. promote their health and vitality,

e. conserve natural resources, especially soil and water,

f. conserve heritage resources and promote aesthetic, cultural and spiritual values,

g. advance persons or categories of persons disadvantaged by unfair discrimination.

A draft set of criteria, indicators and standards was developed to satisfy the requirements of the National Forests Act (Lewis et al 2002). It involved intensive stakeholder participation from corporate level to ground roots level. Amongst others, in terms of secondary forests, it provides for

The White Paper on Sustainable Forest Development (1996) paved the way for the involvement of local communities and other stakeholders in decision-making and the development of policy on the use and management of the forests. The concept of involving people in forest management is still in its embryonic stage but is gaining ground throughout the world. In South Africa, the support of international agencies such as DANCED and DFID, as well as the enthusiasm of forestry staff, contributed to the progress that has been made. A comprehensive Participatory Forest Management (PFM) programme has been established and is advocated as a solution to the past shortcomings in forest management to involve relevant stakeholders in forest management. In order to ensure that the PFM policies and legislation of the Department are efficiently implemented and to guide the practitioners on the ground, eleven PFM principles have been adopted.

PFM forums are being established around the natural forest estates. These forums meet regularly and comprise representatives of local communities, estate managers or their assistants, and forest guards. The forums serve several functions, including informing and educating the participants on forest management issues, to evaluate project proposals and make recommendations, and to establish mutual trust and cooperation between the stakeholders.

Harvesting of specific resources by rural communities such as bark for traditional medicine required a different approach to the developing PFM approach. This involved bark harvesters and traditional healers from different communities in a larger district. It involved the following activities (Geldenhuys in press a, b):

Actual knowledge and experience In the management of secondary forests

The establishment of pure stands of indigenous tree species through planting was practised for many years, but this proved to be a very expensive process. A more acceptable and cost-effective approach was developed. Stands of introduced tree species on the forest margin are gradually thinned to facilitate the establishment and growth of the indigenous tree species (Geldenhuys et al. 1986; Van Wyk et al. 1995). It is based on the concept that if fire is controlled in the landscape (urban development, crop production, commercial plantations), the areas in the former fire pathways (Figure 1) grow back to trees: firstly by alien invader species. They are intolerant of shade, cannot establish under their own canopy, but shade-tolerant forest species become established in the understorey (Figure 2; Geldenhuys 1995, 1997; Geldenhuys and Delveaux 2002). Careful manipulation of the invader stand through selective thinning where forest species start to establish, facilitates the stronger growth of the established species and establishment of more species. Eventually the invader plant stand can be converted to regrowth forest. Similarly plantation stands can be converted to forest (Van Wyk et al 1995). This can also be done with indigenous forest pioneer species (Acacia karroo, Trema orientalis, Virgilia divaricata), and other useful, fast-growing indigenous tree species (Ptaeroxylon obliquum, Millettia grandis, Podocarpus falcatus, Prunus africana, Rapanea melanophloeos, and others) (Geldenhuys and Von dem Bussche 1994; Van Wyk et al. 1995; Geldenhuys and Delveaux 2002). Nurse stands of indigenous species can be planted to develop useful, mixed forest stands in degraded forest gaps or forest margin (but outside the fire zones of Figure 1) to restore forest.

Figure 2. Conceptual model of the relationship between stand development and the establishment of understorey vegetation (adapted from Geldenhuys 1995).

Main lessons and conclusions

Secondary forests as described above are an integral part of the conservation and sustainable use of the natural forests in South Africa. There are different ways that forests become degraded, both natural and human-induced. In South Africa the small, fragmented forests have been attributed to destructive activities of man, but studies have shown that this has been a long process of natural disturbance by mainly fire. By changing the fire regime, woody vegetation start to establish and secondary forest develops. This process has become the basis for the re-establishment of forests, and the natural succession towards forest, even where forests did not exist under the present climatic regime.

In South Africa all forests or parts of forests within a forest estate are managed in an integrated way on the basis of their potential for resource use and needs for rehabilitation and protection. Sustainable development means the integration of environmental health and stability, economically efficient development, and provision in the needs of people in an equitable way, from the local to international levels. For example, harvesting of bark by rural people is as important as harvesting timber for use by industries outside the area. Secondary forests do need a specific management approach, but the basic principles remain in order to achieve specific objectives. Development of sustainable resource use from secondary forest would involve a process within which the resource managers (often the authorities) and the resource users must i) define the products to be used, ii) make an inventory of resource availability and match this with the resource needs, iii) determine the rate of production, iv) make assumptions on aspects not known, v) set management objectives and guidelines, vi) implement management, vii) monitor, and viii) re-evaluate and adapt management (Geldenhuys 2000c). Resource use must be approached from a focus towards business development because this focuses the attention to critical issues related to market demand, whether it be other rural communities or sophisticated external furniture industries.

Development of small businesses in rural areas, based on sustainable use of forests, is a new approach in South Africa to deal with illegal resource use practices. It was developed with implementation of the harvesting of Rumohra fern for the florist industry in a commercial forestry and farming environment (Geldenhuys 1994b). The approach was further advanced with the harvesting of bark for traditional medicine in a rural environment (Geldenhuys in press a,b), but also in other areas such as vine harvesting for basket-making (Venter 2000). Businesses in rural areas, based on the use of forest species, could be developed as an approach to improve management of secondary forests for the benefit of rural communities.

Such an approach should consider:

Business skills and affordability (different levels of business complexity from village family to big high-technology-based industry)

Secondary forests develop, after degradation, through a process of ecological succession of a disturbed (degraded) site. The process may have different starting points (and end points). The development is associated with increasing vegetation cover, biodiversity, nutrient cycling and eventually productivity driven by the relative shade-tolerance (competitive ability) of different species. This process of forest restoration requires that we stop the degradation processes, improve our understanding of the differences in impact between natural and human-induced disturbances, and that we implement cost-effective mechanisms to facilitate and direct the recovery processes.

Recent studies of the catalysing effect of tree plantings to restore forest biodiversity and productivity provide a basis for combining forest rehabilitation and production of the plants used by rural communities for their daily livelihood (Geldenhuys et al 1986; Geldenhuys 1996b, 1997b; Parrotta 1995, Parrotta et al 1997). Facilitation of forest re-establishment and recovery, using stands of planted trees, provides the basis to grow selected, traditionally-used forest species faster in mixed-species stands, to add value to products harvested from the planted stands through small businesses, to reduce the pressure on the forests through socio-economic upliftment of poor rural communities, and to restore forest. Restoration actions are only successful if they are economically viable, or if they provide in the daily needs of rural communities. They need to resolve the conflicts between resource users and resource managers. There must be an improved, diversified and productive commercial use of the natural resources. The actions must contribute to improved productivity of degraded land (such as through growth of legume trees, and agro-biological improvement of degraded soil). They also need to ensure sustainable resource management.

Successful combination of business development with forest restoration requires (Figure 3):

Figure 3: Outline of the process to develop a study plan for development of sustainable utilization, commercialization and domestication of a target species (Geldenhuys in press b)

Recommendations

In South Africa the state (National or Provincial authorities) own and control most of the forest area, but many rural people live in relative close proximity to the forests and depend in part on the forest resources for their livelihood. The PFM approach in the rural areas needs to be fast-tracked to resolve conflicts between resource users and resource managers, to improve diverse commercial use of the natural resources and to ensure sustainable resource management. The components and activities of the process to implement sustainable resource use are as indicated in Figure 3.

For a specific target species the following studies should be included (Geldenhuys in press b):

This approach will ensure a focus in the developments, an integration of different actions, studies and disciplines to achieve the set objectives, removal of the constraints and development of the potentials of whatever the resource or target species are. This approach was successfully followed in the bark studies (Geldenhuys in press a,b).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I acknowledge with gratitude the opportunity and financial support which the organisers of this workshop have provided me to participate.

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