DESPITE being caught in the act of felling a large tree and told to leave the area immediately, wood crafters were back in the greenbelt within an hour after being escorted out by security services.
When a Meerensee resident reported hammering, cutting and voices in the greenbelt behind Breamhill, Northern Region Protection Services (NRPS) responded to the possible illegal construction of informal dwellings in the greenbelt.
Corrie Pretorius of NRPS caught three men red-handed.
The wood carvers sell their artefacts to tourists and residents, but many locals say they are responsible for the destruction of the local coastal forests.
Last year, a heated debate broke out between those supporting the trade as a way for locals to earn an honest living and those who argue that it should be outlawed or at least strictly regulated to obtain a balance between conservation and allowing communities to earn an income.
But the matter of who should be policing the trade, was in contention.
Ezemvelo District Conservation Officer, Phumla Zulu, at the time said the land belongs to the municipality and that they should police it and engage with carvers to ensure they are not breaking the law.
But the City’s head of Parks and Recreation, Ernst van Biljon, said laws protecting trees and the environment fall under the ambit of local and provincial conservation authorities, such as Ezemvelo and the Department of Environmental Affairs.
RBM ecologist and representative of the Kwambo Conservancy, Theresia Ott, pointed to large scale destruction of Dukuduku forest and the buffer area between Maphelane and RBM.
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