A call for help – Tokai Park needs you!

fynbosrambles, , , , ,

Tokai Park information:

An interim interdict has been issued staying the felling of the pines

See below for the court order (a rule nisi). This also affords interested parties the opportunity to make submissions.

The authorities, organisations, institutes and individuals who are in favour of removing the remaining Monterey Pine plantations at Tokai Plantation are simply trying to:

1) conserve and restore a vegetation type (Cape Flats Sand Fynbos) that is considered to be Critically Endangered at local, national and international levels;

2) inform those of the Tokai community that might not understand the importance/significance/value of the conservation of this habitat (vegetation type); and,

3) support SANParks and SANBI in their mandated responsibility to conserve nature and natural systems.

There are communities and organisations around Cape Town who have fully grasped the conservation and heritage significance of this Critically Endangered habitat and who have fought tooth and nail to preserve and restore some of the very few precious remnant tracts of Cape Flats Sand Fynbos. These include the Bothasig, Meadowridge, Rondebosch and Zeekoevlei communities.

Here is a link to an excellent summary of information about this vegetation type:

Here are just a couple of examples of conservation efforts and groups that have formed around Cape Town to protect remnants of this vegetation type:

Bothasig community protecting a Cape Flats Sand Fynbos remnant;

Meadowridge common – celebrating Cape Flats Sand Fynbos;

Friends.of.Rondebosch.Common – another Cape Flats Sand Fynbos remnant;

Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area.

If you choose to write this information off as nay saying – that is your choice and your right to an opinion. I do not see it as nay saying – I see it as giving information that is critically important to making present day choices for long term conservation gain.

Here is the court order – click on each image to read the text.
(Note – the court orders have now been upsized  to a reasonable size)

 

If you want to know more about “rule nisi” or interdicts, here is a useful link:

https://www.ensafrica.com/news/a-brief-discussion-on-interdicts?Id=209

Hoping that SANParks will get more support than it already has – calling all big guns to the matter.

An excerpt:

“4 Urgent relief

It is often necessary to apply for an interim interdict on an urgent basis; and in certain circumstances by way of an ex parte application (that is without notice to the respondent). In these cases the court (if it grants the interim interdict) will issue a rule nisi, which will order the respondent to come before the court on a particular date, to show cause as to why the interim interdict should not be made a final interdict.

5. Summary of the steps taken to obtain an interdict:

5.1 An application for an interim interdict is brought on notice of motion with a founding affidavit.

5.2 If the matter is urgent, the application may be brought ex parte, with a rule nisi granted with a return date.

5.3 The rule nisi is thereafter served on the other side and the respondent must show cause on the return day why the rule should not be confirmed and a final interdict granted.

5.4 When requesting an interim interdict, the applicant will ask for temporary relief, which will operate until the return day.

5.5 The interdict sought on the return day is usually final, but may again be interim. “

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