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Steenboksberg Hack

Conservation 17 May 2017 Steenboksberg Hack

In glorious weather, ten people worked on Saturday 13 May, with three staying over to continue their assault on the Hakea on Sunday.

A large stand of Hakea sericea seedlings and small trees was removed, in a strip approximately 100m wide, starting from the MSCA boundary sign and stretching from the river to the rock band on the western ridge. Some of that colony of Hakea outside our boundary – on Bastiaanskloof – still needs to be dealt with. Equally, in the next shallow gully, a stand of Hakea awaits attention.

Cut plants were stacked in piles and stamped down. This is a vitally important part of the clearing effort: if they are just left in the veld the seedpods open and the seeds disperse. If they are stacked, the wind doesn’t get them and the seeds drop into the pile, leaving a feast for rodents. If any seeds germinate, the seedlings generally don’t get enough light inside the dense pile to survive. Past experience has been that there is little or no regrowth around these piles.

Future tasks will be to finish off the areas mentioned above and then sweep the rest of the property. Individual Hakea plants can be seen above the path in places, even near the camp site.

Thanks are due to to all the participants for their work and support.

John Watermeyer

MCSA-CT
MCSA-CT

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