Forest management and water in the Republic of South Africa

Abstract

South Africa is a semi-arid country with a very limited area of natural forest. The early colonial governments encouraged the establishment of plantations to supply wood for local uses, and South Africa consequently has a long history of plantation forestry. However, the growth of the man-made forests soon led to conflicts with downstream water users, mainly farmers. The simmering debate about the positive and negative effects of plantations of introduced tree species became a highlevel political issue, and this led to the establishment of a large and intensive forest hydrological research program in 1936. The results of the research program were incorporated, between 1970 and 1995 into management policies for these plantations and the humid mountainous catchment areas (watersheds). One policy element was that the extent of the plantations was regulated, based on the estimated effects of the plantations on regional water resources. More recently, a new National Water Act (1998) has further restricted the forest industry, with the result that there has been a stagnation of timber planting over the last twenty years. This chapter outlines the history of the forest industry and associated forest hydrology research in South Africa, and describes the measures that have been taken to control the forest industry because of its effects on water resources.