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| Beautiful Joubertskloof |
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| The visual impact of sand mining |
The Eco Tourism of Fynbos
Estate is next in line
Following the licencing this week of yet two more sand mines
in the Paardeberg, we are shocked and dismayed for the whole of the Paardeberg
as well as for ourselves here at Fynbos Estate - as we are the next in line. A
sand mining application is in process for adjacent to us and right at our
entrance.
Fynbos Estate’s Dragonridge Winery is part of the
Paardeberg’s wine tourism alongside Eben Sadie and others. Additionally
with 280 hectares of contract nature reserve, the stillness and beauty of
Fynbos Estate has allowed our sustainability as a retreat and workshop
centre, as well as a rural getaway guest farm and celebration venue.
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| The pavilion and pool areas look directly over the site |
The sand proposed mine is highly visible from every
single place on the farm and nature reserve, and the noise of big machinery and
trucks will shatter the precious stillness sought after by visitors. Moreover instead of winding along quiet rural roads to get to us, guests will
have to run a gauntlet of huge sand trucks which, when full, weigh 60
tonnes, take up the entire width of the narrow roads and spew clouds of
obscuring dust.
If it were not enough that these roads carry farm vehicles
and provide pathways for horses, cattle and sheep , preschool and primary
school children use these roads daily to and from the little farm school in
the Kloof. This is tragedy waiting to happen
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| An example of the huge machinery involved |
An significant conservation issue: agriculture and
nature.
But much more than about Fynbos, this is about the whole of
the mountain, the wine and olive farms dotted around it, the spoiling of arable
land in its foothills the numerous biodiversity areas and nature reserves hard
won by land owners. It is a conservation issue of extreme significance.
In a world where there is a daily loss of species of flora and fauna and
increasing shrinkage of agricultural land, to squander the gift of an exquisite
mountain an hour from Cape Town with rural hectarage, nature reserves and
biodiversity acclaimed areas, is just unbelievable. Does no one in office
think about the planet and about what we leave to our children? All for the one
off benefit to a few individual farmers and some sand transport operators.
Further any notion that a mined area can be rehabilitated to what it was
before, is manifestly not true. The soil layer is crucial to mineral movement
and drainage as well as to the endless colonies of insects, worms and the like
that form part of agriculturally viable land and a healthy ecology all the way
up to the birds that dwell here.
Please join our campaign. Tell all your conservation minded
friends, post comments on our facebook page and if possible copy your comments
to the following link http://grape.co.za/2017/02/a-sad-day-for-swartland-wine/#comments
Please like and share this Facebook page
Please like and share this Facebook page
And then of course to link our post to theirs so ours gets
onto their site too
If you prefer, write emails to us at info@fynbosestate.co.za. These we will
collate and submit to the appropriate people.
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| Huge volumes of dust effect livestock and crops |
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| The proposed site |
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| Narrow farm roads are unable to handle the increased traffic from large construction vehicles |
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