4x4 trail from Afriski to Amphitheatre

Thanks for bringing this to the attention of this forum, Stijn. A lot of thoughts have whizzed through my head since reading this. So, while I'm going to offload some of these thoughts now, this won't be my last response on this.

My gut was wrenched when I read this . I do my own 4x4 trips to Lesotho, but I stick to established, proper tracks that are on the Lesotho government maps. There are enough of these already, and any additional ones are certainly not needed or wanted. My own 4x4 trips are also a means of getting to areas for hiking - areas exactly of the kind in question here. I think this strip of mountains is sacred and I wouldn't be happy at all to encounter vehicles there. But this issue goes well beyond the sentiment of us Berg fans.

Stijn said:

Surely there should be conservation rules against this? I suppose it is in Lesotho and not part of any nature reserve per se but the damage is still being done...

While this area is not officially protected in the sense that a national park would be, there are 3 considerations, that I can see, which make this a serious issue:

1. This area falls under the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Project. In the words from their own website, maloti.opencms.co.za :

The Maloti-Drakensberg Transfontier Conservation and Development Project (MDTP) is a collaborative initiative between South Africa and the Kingdom of Lesotho to protect the exceptional biodiversity of the Drakensberg and Maloti mountains through conservation, sustainable resource use, and land-use and development planning. This area encompasses distinct landscape and biological diversity. It is quite rich in species and high in endemism. Excessive livestock grazing, crop cultivation on steep slopes, uncontrolled burning, alien invading species and human encroachment threatens this asset.

2. Though it is said the last 5km to the Chain Ladders are walked, this nonetheless comes very close to the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park boundary (and if this is not checked, before long someone will drive right to the edge). In addition to the fact that its a World Heritage Site, the park needs a buffer zone on either side for ecological reasons, and I`m sure this activity would be of interest to KZN Wildlife.

3. This area has immense value (and thus sensitivity) as it concerns water resources. See this blog post for more thoughts concerning this. Additional 4x4 tracks ultimately have an impact on the quality and quantity of drinking water in critical areas such as Gauteng! The areas around the Pass of Guns and Tlaeeng Pass across towards the escarpment crosses the Khubedu drainage area, which joins the Senqu, where there are plans to be build more dams in addition to Katse and Mohale. I wonder if this activity would also be of concern to the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (a pivotal project for both South Africa and Lesotho)?

I certainly will make a point of passing this information on. I do know that this has reached high levels of the some organisations concerned already.

I do appreciate the response from Kobus Pienaar, secretary of the Nissan 4x4 Club, as posted on the climb.co.za forum. But, while a one-time use of this route would not harm the environment, continued use certainly will. Also, I was horrified to see the number of vehicles doing this in one go! See pictures on this forum: www.nissan4x4.co.za/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6582&PN=1&TPN=1

drsnoobab said:

To truly bring home the hideousness of the prospect, follow the following google link, and select the first search that comes up ... check out the thumbnails midpage ... here

If you are referring to the search result detailed below, I share your concern.

Information - SA 4x4 Community Forum - The only forum for the ...
7 posts - 4 authors - Last post: 21 hours ago
Anyone have a GPS track for the trail/route from top of Mont Aux Sources to A1 in Lesotho? As shown on the Lesotho InfoMap. ...
www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php?p=372801... - 21 hours ago - Similar

I have a lot of GPS data for Lesotho that I intend sharing with members of this site, but I wouldn't want it ever to be a part of establishing a new 4x4 route in the mountains. A fresh reminder why we punt a concern for the environment and conservation alongside the useful GPS data available on this site.

More thoughts to follow...

When I was first alerted by Intrepid to this post, I thought no worries, because I know that EKZNW know about these "proposals" and for a whole heap of reasons are squashing them. Dealing with difficult development applications is what I do for EKZNW, and I know that this has been brought to our attention. What I wasn't aware of was that some of the guys had already attempted the route, and were now starting to put GPS tracks on the 'net and publicize it. This, in my mind, has the potential to be just as big as when 4x4 driving was banned from the beaches as well, as now those who are concerned for the environment and want to ensure sustainable use and conservation of sensitive areas become the enemy. I am told that 90% of 4x4 enthusiasts are very concerned for the environment and it is only a minority who drive their vehicles into the dunes and to the edges of mountains, as the pictures on the post by Dr Snoobab indicate. Knowing how sensitive those edges are, I sincerely doubt that any of those guys thought twice about their potential impact that even one trip in a 4x4 could do to endemic plants that only occur in a narrow band along the escarpment edge.

Moreover, it must be pointed out that the Berg is a World Heritage site, and having 4x4 tracks leading to the escarpment's edge is completely unacceptable. There are potential international mechanisms which can be used in circumstances like this (even if it is in Lesotho!), but as I say, it will again come down to conservationists becoming the "killjoys"!

I will dig around a little tomorrow and see what I can unearth in terms of what has been done to prevent this. In case anyone is interested, this is not the only ludicrous idea I have heard about. One other notable idea was a cable car from the RSA side! Wonder how long the cable would last before the Basothos thieved it...

I think what would also be useful is getting official word from Afriski, and finding out who the landowner is...