Elaleni Coastal Estate’s Swamp Fig Forest, damaged by heavy rain and construction soil last year, is slowly healing.

Many months’ hard work by residents, farmers, labourers and environmentalists is beginning to bear fruit (Courier, ‘Race against time to save Elaleni’s Swamp Fig Forest’, December 12 and ‘Residents take action!’, December 20).

During a recent walkthrough, site manager Nick Bartlett, ecologist Simon Bundy and environmental expert Ted Avis showcased the forest’s rehabilitation progress to residents.

“If we can save the bigger trees, we can get the canopy reforming, the forest will naturally regenerate,” said Bartlett.

“A lot of the trees that weren’t badly damaged are showing a little growth; they have new leaves growing, which is a positive sign. We are saving some of the older trees, too, which is encouraging.”

Twenty-five labourers work eight hours a day, moving up to 120 cubic metres of sand (equivalent to about 200 tons a day). They do this by recycling 5 000 litres of water per minute through pipes out to a nearby dam.

“We removed 280 cubes last Monday and Tuesday, and 600 cubes the previous week,” said Bartlett. “An excavator digs out the sand from the dam, and depending on the weather, up to 12 truckloads a day remove it from the estate.”

While there’s no consensus on the best way to regenerate the forest, environmental experts are testing a two-prong approach: Regenerating some areas with indigenous plants while observing others to track natural regeneration. “We’ll see what happens in three months,” said Avis.

Trenches are also used to funnel excess water through the forest and out to the dam, thereby stopping water from seeping into the soil around the rare fig trees. The Berea Red sand that flowed into the forest binds to water, which means the soil is constantly wet.

Some of the soil is so saturated, it wobbles like a waterbed when you stand on it. The fig tree roots can handle excess water but not the bark. Once the water soaks into the bark, it begins to rot the tree from the inside out.

“It’s not only getting the soil right; we need to get the water out,” added Avis.

“Even though it’s a swamp forest, the water flows subterraneously. The trees are adapted to being in water but not constantly submerged in water because they will rot.”

Bundy explained that trees need ideal soil conditions to grow again.

“The answer is in the soil. If the carbon and the nitrates are right, everything should be ideal for regeneration. The trees are the manifestation of the nutrients in the soil.”

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