Jonkershoek research catchments: history and impacts on commercial forestry in South Africa.

Abstract

By the 1850s, European settlers were over-exploiting of South Africa’s indigenous forest resources for timber. As a result of rising concerns, authorities began a programme of afforestation (usually a grassland or fynbos conversion) using exotic species, particularly pines (P pinaster initially), eucalypts and some acacias (A. mearnsii). By the 1900s it was clear that these plantations were affecting streamflow, with numerous complaints by farmers. A programme of research into “the influences of forests on water conservation and allied problems” was endorsed by the 1935 Fourth Empire Forestry Conference held in Cape Town. By 1936 construction was underway on weirs in the Jonkershoek State Forest and a programme of research was developed, with Dr CL Wicht as Founder and Research Director of the Jonkershoek Forestry Research Centre.