The Pine Tree Project

We had an epically successful weekend, albeit some mist and rain which gave us a late start on Saturday.

The Wonder Valley area between Monk's Cowl and Injasuthi is infested with Pine Trees so we will be busy here for a while. This time around we felled well over 300 trees.

Thanks to Husqvarna, Camperdown Mowers and Construction, Pangolin Manufacturing, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife and MCSA KZN for supporting us on our mission.
 

So a few developments since my last post..

MCSA KZN Section (mountain Club of South Africa) has bought us 4 new Husqvarna T435 top handle chainsaws, Camperdown Mowers gave us a fantastic deal on these machines.

We did a wattle eradication exercise this last weekend, on the upper reaches of the Umgeni, in Dargle. Very close to Inhlosane..
This was very hard work, surprisingly hot for this time of the year, steep slopes requiring ropework, and lots of debris on the slopes in the form of rotten pieces from trees that were felled 2 years ago.
Facebook link here:   web.facebook.com/pinebusters/posts/570989727623733

We are really upping the game for our pine eradication work in the berg as well, on our last Pine Bust we had 5 chainsaw operators, and felled more than 300 invasive pine trees.

You can see our latest updates here:  web.facebook.com/pinebusters .

Please like and share our page, to increase awareness and our exposure on social media..

We do have some funding requirements, so if anyone feels the need to help out with a donation of any kind, this would be very welcome. All funds go towards gear needed for our efforts.
Alien pines in the Berg threaten the grasslands, which are home to numerous fauna and flora species, and also threaten water security f or the future, the Berg being a very important water catchment area.

,Cheers
PapaD

 

Guys, thanks for your interest in the past..

www.facebook.com/pinebusters

So we have a 3 day working pine eradication hike coming up next weekend 11 to 13 March.
We have at least 5 chainsaw teams ready for action, and a couple of manual saw teams as well.
Our issue is that we only have 3 working radios at the moment, one is damaged, and a member that has 2 private radios
and usually is a stalwart member of our group, is not able to join due to long covid issue since January LAST year. We have found that
these radios are a huge bonus to us in terms of safety when working on the very steep slopes, planning and deployment of the teams,
and reporting back results for data collating, which is very important to our on board ecologist, and EKZNW.

We are using Zartek ZA-720 radios at the moment, but as far as I know, most of the Zartek range will be able to talk to these  radios.

Bearing in mind too, that we are all volunteers, and bear our own costs in terms of personal safety equipment, time, transport to and from work site, clothing that takes strain working in this sort of environment etc.

If you are able to assist us in any way, please PM or Whatsapp me on 082.334.6122
Please be assured that anything that is donated will be used for the purpose which it is intended, in a transparent manner. Monies could be paid to MCSA (Mountain Club of South Africa) KZN Section account, where it will be controlled on payout, or direct to the supplier. Cost of the radios is about R700 per unit.

Many thanks.
Roger
PapaD