Boomplantweek en die Internasionale Jaar van Woude - Dendro.co.za

DENDRON » No/Nr: 43 » November 2011
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The partners in the venture » Leon Visser (climber) and Brof Brian Bredenkamp (ground crew) at the base of the tallest tree in Africa.
The twins that became triplets.
The weather in the Boland was near-perfect early
last week, but in the forest areas of Limpopo it was
so bad that two of South Africa’s four Albatross aircraft
flew into the side of a mountain. While rescue parties
were looking for the crash site, two foresters from
Stellenbosch, Brian Bredenkamp and Leon Visser
were in the rain in the plantations of Magoebaskloof,
measuring trees. Brian is Emeritus Professor of Forest
Management at the University of Stellenbosch and
serves on the Minister of Forestry’s advisory panel
for the National Champion Tree Project while Leon
is an arborist and owner of Trees Unlimited. He is
passionate about climbing trees. There is a synergy
with the former’s expertise in forest mensuration and
the hobby of the latter. Leon climbs the tallest trees
in the country and drops a tape to his ground crew,
Brian, who then records the height. As Brian jokingly
puts it; Leon merely holds the end of the tape while he
measures the tree.
Local foresters on Woodbush Forest had discovered
three huge Mexican yellow pines (Pinus oocarpa)
that had been planted in 1905 and left when the rest
of the stand was clearfelled some seventy years ago.
The stand had not been replanted and these three
now tower above the indigenous forest that has reestablished
itself. The trees had been reported to
the Department of Forestry and the responsible
official had asked Stihl (South Africa) to sponsor the
measurement of the trees. Stihl had kindly agreed
to cover the travel expenses of Brian and Leon who
flew to Johannesburg and then travelled by road to
Magoebaskloof, via Polokwane, on Sunday morning.
By nightfall the first of the three trees had already
been climbed and measured and the throw lines were
already in the crown of the second.
On Monday morning Leon was up the 50 m tree in
less than an hour despite the pelting rain and before
lunch the objectives of the trip had been met. The
trees had been measured and had been dubbed the
Matrons of Magoebaskloof. However, this provided an
opportunity!
The Matrons were only a short walk from the Twin
Giants of Magoebaskloof. These were two Sydney
Izak van der Merwe
THE TWINS THAT BECAME TRIPLETS.
blue gums (Eucalyptus saligna) that Leon had climbed
and Brian had measured the year before. They were
78,5 and 79,0 m tall and were not only the tallest trees
on the African continent, they were the tallest planted
Eucalypts in the world. They had been identified for
climbing from satellite imagery and when Leon was
up in the crowns he’d seen another tree, mere metres
away, that he suspected was even taller. However, by
that time it was already dark on the forest floor and
there had not been an opportunity to climb the tree.
Now that opportunity had arrived.
Opportunity might not be the best word, of course. Most
of the day was available but it was raining continuously
and the bark of a gum tree is a lot smoother than that of
a pine tree. It would be dangerous to climb in the rain
because as the roadsigns proclaim; Slippery when
wet! Undeterred, Leon set off. The lowest live branch
was more than 30 m above the ground and it took a
while before it was possible to shoot a lead weight
with an attached throw-line over it. The climbing rope
was pulled over the branch by means of the throw line
and then Leon set off, ankle-locking his way up the
rope. It took another 15 passes to higher branches
and two hours before he reached the top and Brian
attached the end of the tape measure to the climbing
rope. Leon then pulled the end of the tape to the
top of the tree and Brian read the height: 80 m! The
tree is now the tallest known in Africa. There are now
three giant trees in the grove and the Twin Giants of
Magoebaskloof now became the Triplet Giants of
Magoebaskloof.
It may be useful to think about what a height of 80
m implies. Were the tree to stand on the quarter
line of the All Blacks and fall toward the Springbok
line it would flatten the posts! The tallest tree in
Stellenbosch, possibly in the Boland, in Helsehoogte, a
sugar gum next to the old Helshoogte Pass, and that is
a mere 54 m tall. Arguably the most prominent tree in
Stellenbosch is the almost 200-year old Norfolk Island
Pine in front of the Theological Seminary, a tree that is
taller than the steeple of the Moederkerk. The new
Triplet is almost twice as tall!
tree stories
boomstories
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DENDRON » No/Nr: 43 » November 2011