Rehab to damaged green zones along M4 takes shape
In a bid to help restore both green zones to its former glory the eThekwini Municipality appointed several horticulturalists to help rehabilitate the damaged zones.
A PROJECT to repair and rehabilitate sections of green zones on the eastern and western embankments of the M4 Ruth First Highway is slowly taking shape.
In December last year, a portion of the M4 roadway that was washed away led to a mudslide which affected the 26 hectare Umhlanga Lagoon Nature Reserve and a section of the Hawaan Forest on the western embankment.
In a bid to help restore both green zones to its former glory the eThekwini Municipality appointed Geoff Nichols, an environmental specialist and horticulturalist and local horticulturalist Hilton MacLarty to help rehabilitate the damaged zones. When the project was started, Nichols said specific plants and trees were planted to bind the soil, as well as stop any flow of stormwater runoff.
Last week Northglen News met with Andile Nzama, owner of RAD Horticulture, the company tasked with maintaining four green zones identified as damaged due to the road collapse.
“The planting specifications were carried out by Hilton and monitored by Geoff and we are now responsible for maintaining these areas for the next year. The western embankment is now complete in terms of plants sown and a section of the Hawaan Forest is slowly being re-established. We are due to start work on the wetland within the Umhlanga Lagoon reserve soon.
“Already in this short period of time we’ve seen huge progress. The section of forest being rehabilitated has seen rapid plant growth. In a way the timing has worked out because the lack of rain, but with the installed temporary irrigation system, the new plants have established well. The forest should be able to establish itself naturally and in the months since the project started it has,” Nzama explained.
She added that several residents have remarked positively on the project and her hope now was establishing the damaged section of the wetland running through the uMhlanga reserve.
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