At this very moment, stakeholders are carefully studying the recently released draft Tokai Cecilia Implementation Plan (TCIP) and preparing their comment.
Following months of consultation and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, South African National Parks (SANParks) published the draft TCIP for public comment in terms of the Tokai Cecilia Management Framework (TCMF) Review Process on Tuesday 12 April.
According to Property Mokoena, Managing Executive for SANParks, the publication of the draft TCIP is a key milestone in the TCMF review.
“It marks the culmination of hundreds of hours of work by our stakeholders and staff.”
A media statement released by SANParks last week stated proposals had been individually evaluated and grouped into themes and streamed into strategic actions.
“Those that align with or can be accommodated within the existing park management plan are incorporated as ‘programmes’. These include long-term ongoing activities that occur across the wider Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) as part of ‘normal’ park operations.
“Proposals that are area specific and/or project based and typically involve an upgrade development or a change in use of a site or facility have been incorporated into the draft IP as ‘projects’,” the statement read.
An online information session – hosted by SANParks on Tuesday 12 April – outlined projects and programmes earmarked for implementation.
Dumisani Dlamini, Acting CEO of SANParks, said they had engaged with “each and every recommendation”.
During the session it was said that of the over 300 proposals received, SANParks were able to accept about 30% without any edits and about 60% with only minor edits. It was stated that only “a few proposals” could not be accepted.
On the Friends of Tokai Park Facebook page, Dr Alanna Rebelo, spokesperson for the environmental conservation organisation, wrote that one of the questions asked by the participants during the online session was how the TCMF fitted in with the park management plan, and what would happen after 2025 when this land ceded to TMNP.
“The answer was that after 2025, the land will fall under the park management plan and will not be managed by the framework. However the aspects that are able to be maintained, will be (for example, environmental education proposals).
“This seems to be a win for our fynbos! But let’s see how things unfold,” Rebelo wrote.
Posts on the Parkscape Facebook page claimed the TCIP ignored most stakeholder proposals “as it focuses on a conservation mandate above all else and continues to ignore the urban context of the TMNP”.
Nicky Schmidt founder of the voluntary non-profit organisation with a mixed community-safety and environmental focus, wrote that SANParks had made it clear that it did not support safe treed landscapes in Lower Tokai or shade planting/treed spaces in Tokai and Cecilia, “and indicates Tokai Forest and Cecilia Forest will be felled in 2024”.
Plans laid out in the draft plan include development of the Tokai Manor precinct as a visitor and tourism gateway for broad-scale recreational activities into the rest of Tokai and the park, and opening of an arboretum parking area and Lister’s Place (a tea garden at the arboretum). Also included are ongoing upgrades to trails and recreational facilities, and actions to improve fire management, safety and security and stakeholder communication.
“Large-scale alien removal, fynbos restoration and wetland rehabilitation are covered, all of which contribute to the park’s World Heritage Site Status,” SANParks said.
SANParks was assigned management of TMNP (which includes the plantations) on 11 February in 2005 with the state company Mountain to Ocean Forestry (MTO) responsible for the management of Tokai and Cecilia for timber production. According to SANParks, an extension of the MTO forestry plantation lease will be investigated, and trees planted to provide shade in suitable areas for the future.
