Efforts are continuing to reduce soil erosion following the massive June fires in the Knysna area.
Last week, heavy rains caused mudslides along the N2 and other roads in the area.
The Garden Route Rebuild steering committee this week briefed Western Cape Premier Helen Zille on its work to mitigate the problem.
The group brings together, government, NGOs and civil society and their efforts so far are being praised.
Western Cape Premier Helen Zille says: “Coming here is a real joy to me, because I saw the plans on paper and here I see them being implemented. This is really cutting edge stuff, especially the replanting on the mountainside to prevent erosion.”
Without the soil stabilisation, mudslides following rain in the area could have been a lot worse.
But residents are concerned about alien plants sprouting up again, as it was one of the contributors to the spread of the fires in June.
Hundreds of millions of rand are still needed to further assist in the ecological recovery of the area.
Garden Route Rebuild’s Hildegarde Fast says:”We have put forward a very robust, coherent application to the NDMC for funding. We’re going to other departments like the Department of Environmental Affairs to say can you help with some of the environmental projects.”
Property owners are also being encouraged to rebuild their homes with fire safety in mind.
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