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1 June 2020 Media Release: Sunday 7 June marks three years after the 2017 Knysna and Bitou wildfire disaster

Media Release: Sunday 7 June marks three years after the 2017 Knysna and Bitou wildfire disaster

For Immediate Release
1 June 2020

“The 2017 Knysna wildfire disaster was without a doubt the most devastating of its kind in the history of Southern Africa,” says Cobus Meiring of the Garden Route Environmental Forum (GREF).”

“With the loss of life and a badly-affected local economy, irreparable damage done to infrastructure, businesses, agriculture, forestry and property running into trillions of rand, the Knysna disaster caused unparalleled ecological havoc in an area of over 20 000 hectares.

As part of an ongoing debate on the correlation between the consequences of COVID-19 and that of climate change, GREF asked Gerhard Otto, Head of the Garden Route District Municipality’s Disaster Management Centre, if the Southern Cape is today better prepared in the event of a repeat of the 2017 wildfire disaster.

“From a preparedness level the Garden Route District Disaster Management Centre, Local Municipalities, nature conservations entities, forestry as well as regional fire protection associations have, as a collective, ramped up capacity to fight wildfire disaster way beyond what was in place in 2017. Aerial firefighting capacity, clearing of fire breaks and upgraded firefighting equipment, all makes for a better-prepared region dealing with regular and intense wildfire scenarios,” says Otto.

7 June 2020 commemorates the 2017 Knysna wildfire disaster, and in many ways the risk of a repeat thereof in the Southern Cape remains.

“The 2017 Knysna wildfire disaster was caused by a perfect storm of climate change, super strong winds, possible human error and the prevalence of large-scale invasive alien plants in the landscape, all of which contributed to the scale and ferocity of the disaster.”

“For instance, in as much as disaster management and firefighting services are better resourced than three years ago, there is still too much invasive alien plants in the landscape that has the potential to provide the biofuel necessary for a repeat of the 2017 wildfire disaster.”

“Landowners, in general, do their best, within their means, to eradicate and control invasive alien plant growth on their land, but the task at hand is a mammoth one, and much more needs to be done in order to achieve a fire-safe environment in the Southern Cape,” says Otto.

“COVID-19 has had a severe and tangible effect on the socio-economic fabric of the Southern Cape and we know that the real challenge the advent of the pandemic is posing, is still nowhere near its true impact. Both COVID-19 and climate change will affect the future of the present-day Southern Cape dramatically. The new normal should no doubt include a rethink of how we manage our environment at all levels, not only for exposure to wildfire risk, but, just as important, the way we manage human settlement, water security and biodiversity conservation.”

“As we commemorate the physical horror of the 2017 Knysna wildfire disaster, and now having to deal with the trauma of COVID-19, all stakeholders and communities in the Southern Cape will have to take hands, develop an understanding of what the future will force upon us, and plan ahead for a safer and more secure region,” concludes Otto.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Gerhard Otto: Head of the Garden Route District Municipality’s Disaster Management Centre
Cell: 081 469 9128
Email: gotto@gardenroute.gov.za

Herman Pieters: Senior Communications Officer: Garden Route District Municipality
Cell: 081 455 5699
Email: communications@gardenroute.gov.za

Cobus Meiring: Chair of the Garden Route Environmental Forum Secretariat
Cell: 083 626 7619
Email: cobus@naturalbridge.co.za