The Table Mountain Region of SANParks Honorary Rangers has achieved some significant success in a project to rehabilitate some of Table Mountain National Park’s most beloved footpaths.
The success has been the result of a powerful collaboration between SANParks, the Table Mountain Region of SANParks Honorary Rangers (SHR), and the Friends of Table Mountain (FoTM), with the help of three extraordinary young professional path-builders known as the Trail Apostles. In the past year of the project the team has rehabilitated 20 km of pathways on 17 of the most-used and degraded paths and trails on Table Mountain.
“It is important to highlight that Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) has about 800 kilometres of trails, and these are some of the most impacted of trails in all of SANParks. We appreciate the support from the Table Mountain Region of SANParks Honorary Rangers and the Friends of Table Mountain group who initiated this project of trail maintenance. The completed work is truly amazing and SANParks is committed to keeping this partnership going and rendering support where needed,” said Megan Taplin, TMNP Manager.
Table Mountain National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its outstanding value of ecological and biological processes in the Fynbos biome. Because it is an open access park surrounded by a large city, many paths are heavily used and many sections have become highly degraded. Among other things, this threatens visitor safety and accessibility. But maintenance of footpaths and infrastructure is an enormous task, requiring money, passion, dedication and an enormous degree of physical labour.
Taplin continued, “It’s great to have so many people passionate about the mountain and this brings about opportunities for collaboration. My big task is to engage with people who really want to be involved, to find ways to address their concerns and harness this passion, together for a better outcome. We can’t do it all by ourselves”
The results of the collaboration so far have been astounding. Led by SANParks Honorary Ranger Toby Adams, the path rehabilitation project began with SHR allocating R10,000 of their annual budget to pathway maintenance. They then joined up with the FoTM, who under the leadership of FoTM Chairman Andy Davies, were instrumental in raising the significant sum of R 300,000 for this project. These funds immediately went into the upgrading and maintenance of many of the most heavily-used paths on Table Mountain.
The SANParks Honorary Rangers of Table Mountain in turn secured a very substantial donation from the Mark Scheinberg family, a large proportion of which has been earmarked for specific footpath upgrades, giving path and trail maintenance a significant push. With this funding, footpath upgrades are in progress on Lion’s Head, Platteklip Gorge and the Maclear’s Beacon boardwalks, among others. The Trail Apostles were assembled by FoTM, and they work under the close supervision of Toby Adams. Other SHRs, members of FoTM and the public have also helped with the portage of equipment, gum poles and support stakes up the mountain.
During the past year of the project, the Trail Apostles have worked 2,300 man-hours rebuilding and maintaining the pathways. FoTM and SHR Toby Adams have collectively logged over 400 man-hours on fundraising, site inspections, team supervision and transport, ground preparation and procuring materials. FoTM Chairman Andy Davies, said, “As Capetonians we are incredibly blessed to have this beautiful mountain in the middle of our city and it is imperative that we take care of it. Our vision is that TMNP is a safe, world class park that both Capetonians and tourists can enjoy. FoTM has been blown away by the incredible support from trail runners, hikers, mountain bikers, the Honorary Rangers and other mountain users. It has been incredibly satisfying to see real tangible results where this team work has resulted in overgrown and eroded trails being repaired. We are also happy to see that SANParks have acknowledged the importance of well-maintained trails on TMNP and are looking forward to seeing the fruits of the additional SANParks trail maintenance budget.”
The project has been widely hailed as beneficial by mountain user groups and is a shining example of the power of collaboration and determination. The success of the project also means that the three Trail Apostles can rely on almost permanent employment as more and more trails are added to the list for upgrade.
