Download Full PDF - 41.38 MB - The Society of Irish Foresters

IRISH FORESTRY
After a guided tour of Kirstenbosch we visited Table Mountain. It was partially covered
by static cloud - known as the table cloth - which covers it for much of the year. This
extraordinary natural feature is a 350-million-year-old massif of sandstone and shale. It
has always had a magnetism over the centuries, from sailors weary from months at sea,
who saw it as a welcome landmark to twenty first century visitors, thousands of whom
each year ascend its 1,086 m summit by cable car.
Records show that about 4,000 years ago, the lower slopes of Table Mountain were
covered by groves of silver tree, Leucadendron argenteum. The tree, the largest of the
Protea family, was brought to near extinction by the Dutch settlers, who felled them for
firewood.
A century later another threat to the mountain's ecological balance was posed by
urban development creeping up its slopes. The mountain was finally declared a national
monument in 1957, a decision which pleased ecologists and many South Africans.
Today, numerous organisations protect its welfare. The silver tree has been reestablished
and is well protected by strict regulation.
The group took the cable-car ascent to the summit and enjoyed the panoramic views.
Overnight accommodation was at the Commodore Hotel, Cape Town. After dinner, the
President Trevor Wilson thanked Georg von dem Bussche for his wonderful organising
abilities and for the great success he had made of the tour - it would go down as one of
the most memorable. He also complimented the Convenor John Mc Loughlin and those
associated with organising and planning the toUf.
Study Tour participants
83