The South African National Parks (SANParks) has announced that the fire-affected hiking trails in Tokai and Silvermine East (including Kalk Bay, St James, Muizenberg mountains and the Steenberg Plateau), which are currently closed, will soon be reopening.
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The Silvermine picnic site and boardwalk around the dam, as well as the riverwalk and other trails, will remain closed, as all the infrastructure at Silvermine West has been damaged and the ablution blocks have been burnt down.
According to SANParks, infrastructure repairs to the site will take some time, and the picnic area will not be able to be opened while there are no toilets.
In the meantime, however, hikers can look forward to trekking their way through Tokai and Silvermine East on 1 July.
Following the massive blaze that ripped through approximately 2 800 hectares of the Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) in late April this year, the trails were forced to remain closed to allow the park’s management to conduct post-fire hazard removal, clean-up and rehabilitation in these areas to ensure safety.
Fire damage in the affected trails included the destruction of boardwalks and other support structures, which resulted in the exposure of dangerous objects such as nails and metal.
‘SANParks apologises for the inconvenience caused by the closures and appreciates the public’s understanding as we carry out this work. Repair efforts will proceed as speedily as possible but may be affected by winter weather,’ SANParks explained in its statement.
“Although some trails may appear unaffected by the fire, it is not feasible to reopen certain trails while others remain unsafe. Allowing access to specific trails could lead to difficulty controlling which paths people use. Additionally, it is not reasonable to allow access to some user groups, such as mountain bike users, and not others.”
In addition to infrastructure repairs, SANParks added that it was forced to close Silvermine and Tokai from an ecological perspective as well, due to a flush of vegetation regrowth that occurred after the fire.
“These newly germinated fynbos plants need time to grow without human and dog impacts (e.g. footprints and trampling) potentially disrupting this delicate and sensitive rejuvenation,” said SANParks.
“We will assess the regrowth of vegetation and determine whether any further closures or restrictions are needed.”
Article shared by Cape Town ETC.
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