The
Origins of Commercial Tree Plantations in KwaZulu-Natal
Harald Witt
“The
vegetation over the greater portion of the area afforested to wattle in the
summer-rainfall area was originally pro-climax grassland. This is composed of
xerophytic, deep-rooted species, and the need for complete control of these
grasses from the outset, if thrifty growth of wattle were to be ensured, was
recognised by growers from the earliest years of the industry.” (S.P. Sherry)
The
foundations of the large-scale and highly profitable commercial tree
plantations in KwaZulu-Natal
have their origins both in the initiatives of private agriculture and in the
state forestry sector. To a large degree it was the early development and
prosperity of privately established wattle plantations that paved the way for
tree crop farming in general. The spectacular economic success of these trees
also hastened the economic transformation of the local rural economy. This was
accompanied by an equally significant and more visible ecological
transformation of the Natal
landscape. Initially the efforts of state foresters were geared primarily towards experimenting with and introducing a
greater variety of economically viable tree species such as eucalypts and pines
- many of which were subsequently planted in state plantations. The state also
actively encouraged and assisted the private sector to participate in the
establishment of commercial plantations.
As with most alien plant species, there is a degree of
uncertainty as to when the various timber trees were first introduced. Private
growers did not keep records, yet it is not inconceivable that tree seeds may
have accompanied the first white settlers in the early nineteenth century.
Official records suggest that as early as 1846 an assortment of Australian
wattles and gums had already been planted in the Howick area. Botanic gardens
(Durban 1851 and Pietermaritzburg 1874) initiated a more rigorous introduction
of potential tree crops. The first wattle plantation in KwaZulu-Natal was established in the early
1870s. Other plantations soon followed, especially when the tannin-rich bark
emerged as a highly lucrative commodity. The economic success of wattle bark
soon led to the formation of companies, which converted more and more land to
wattle plantations. Other farmers continued to plant wattle trees on a lesser
scale, either for domestic use, fuel, shelter, or as landscape modifiers to
alleviate the "bareness" of inland Natal. The usefulness of the tree contributed
to its popularity, and the deliberate distribution of the fast-growing wattles
grew dramatically. These deliberate introductions, together with the vast
amounts of seed inadvertently distributed by wind and water, ensured that the
wattle tree was soon permanently established in the Natal landscape. By 1910, the known area of
commercially grown wattle in Natal
was around 200,000 acres while a few years earlier the extent of eucalyptus
plantings was estimated at 5,000 acres while pine plantations were almost
non-existent at this stage.
Despite the prolific increase in tree crops, wattle was
often unsuited for certain uses and South Africa remained highly
dependent on imports to satisfy the growing demand for more sophisticated wood
and wood-related products. Although the growing demand for mining timber
stimulated some expansion into the planting of eucalypts in the pre-war period
private farmers had little inclination to plant softwoods. Instead it was the
State; through it's employment of poor whites in forestry settlements, and
through more traditional means that took the lead in softwood cultivation.
To encourage farmers
to plant additional tree crops, forestry officials and private tree-growing
enthusiasts resorted to the tool of propaganda and monetary incentives. Many of
the propaganda strategies that evolved had their origins in the environmental
and ecological debates that had begun to emerge locally in the late nineteenth
century. In many instances, large-scale tree growing was advocated as the only
solution and alternative to the impending ecological and environmental
disasters that jeopardised the continued existence of civilised habitation in Natal and South
Africa.
These visions were accentuated by concerns that international timber supplies,
on which South Africa
depended, were about to be exhausted. Propagandists also emphasised the
physical and aesthetic improvement of the landscape that tree growing
facilitated while pointing to the opportunity to accumulate wealth. Furthermore,
timber farming was depicted as an occupation of relative leisure, while
tree-growers were praised for their sense of patriotism. Private farmers
however, were reluctant to move beyond the cultivation of wattles and short
rotation eucalypts for the mining industry. This comes as no surprise as
farmers were unwilling to make long-term investments in crops that had as yet
not proven their economic viability, unlike wattle, which continued to prosper
for much of the first half of the 20th century. This prosperity was accompanied
by the growing concentration in the ownership of wattle plantations, and by the
1930s Hunt, Leuchars and Hepburn (HL&H), and
Natal Tanning Extract (NTE), had emerged as the single largest tree cultivators
with extensive interests in both wattle growing and wattle-processing. (NTE
would later provide the core plantations to the tree-growing giant, Mondi.)
During South Africa's
trading isolation caused by World War II the few locally grown eucalypts and
pines realised exceptional prices when marketed. Tree farmers, especially
wattle growers and the established companies gradually shifted into the
cultivation of pines and eucalypts. This shift accelerated in the post-war
years, which also witnessed the emergence of a new player in Natal's
tree-growing sector - the South African Pulp and Paper Industries (SAPPI) -
which moved to Natal
in the 1940s. The growing dominance of these three companies in the commercial
tree-growing sector was similarly reflected in the related processing sectors.
The large-scale capital investment in these wood-consuming industries was
indicative of the recognised potential of the Province as a tree-growing
region. In their turn tree-growers, assured of a ready market, transferred this
security into higher levels of commercial tree-growing. Various factors, such
as the crisis experienced by the wattle industry in the 1950s, and world
shortages in the supply of softwoods in the 1950s and 1960s also contributed to
the increasing emphasis by tree-farmers, on the planting of alternative
industrial tree-crops in Natal and South Africa.
The expansion of tree growing as a land-use activity was
also facilitated by the growing mechanisation of the agricultural sector. This
enabled tree-farmers to clear and prepare extensive areas, while easing the
harvesting and transportation of this bulky crop. Unlike the conditions that
followed World War I, the South African economy was now far more developed,
with a growing manufacturing and industrial sector. In addition, the pioneering
and experimental plantings of the state and a core of progressive farmers had
ensured that the risk factor in commercial tree growing had decreased
substantially. Through trial and error, the most suitable species had been
selected and the appropriate silvicultural methods established. By the 1960s
the foundations had been successfully laid, and the growth of tree farming was
a natural step in the broadening natural resource base of an industrialising
economy. The factors always retarding the industry, such as the dearth of local
saw milling facilities, the lack of an adequate infrastructure, labour
shortages and the prejudice against local timber, had been addressed by the
state and almost entirely eliminated. In this sense, the role of the state had
shifted from that of innovator in the timber industry, to its facilitator.
Unlike wattle however, the cultivation of pine, and to a similar extent
eucalypts, had become a mass-production business requiring formidable resources
of capital, technical and managerial resources, and control over the market; a
requirement best suited to the large agro-industrialists rather than
small-growers. With the diversification of the South African economy,
commercial tree growing moved away from simple mine-prop and saw timber production,
towards satisfying the needs of the more sophisticated wood, timber and fibre
consuming industry in South
Africa, and the global market. By 1960 there
were over 1 million acres under trees in KwaZulu-Natal.