Timber is a wanted commodity world wide, and there are thousands of hectares of planted forests run by both the state and private enterprise within the Greater St. Lucia Wetlands Park or GSWP. One of the bigger areas  is the Dukuduku State Forest where there are large plantations of both gum trees and pine.  The Eastern Shores of Lake St. Lucia commonly referred to as Eastern Shores is also a very large area which was planted up with pine, by the state (South African Government) during the late 1960's and through to the late 1070's when the planting was stopped by the nature conservationists within our area, for political purposes, as the area was then under threat to be mined by RBM (Richards Bay Minerals).

Both of these areas have on going timber harvesting taking place, and a tour of their operations is in the pipe line. If you would like to spend the day  with a forester and see the operation send me an email to  frank@mtuba4u.co.za and I will arrange it.  Take a look at some pictures of the Eastern Shores Operation.

Timber growing and harvesting within the Mtubatuba area is a large industry, which is labour intensive, and accounts for a few thousand jobs within our area.

PINE.

The trees are cut down with petrol driven chainsaws, then de-branched and cut into the required lengths. These are then  sorted into categories. and pre stacked in the fields. These pre stacked logs are then carted by tractor to a loading zone, where the logs are then carted to their next destination.  The pine logs have various uses ranging from wood for furniture, building and general construction to pulp for paper, card board and other products.

The main purchasers of these pine logs are SAPPI (South African Pulp and Paper Industries), MONDI another pulp and paper producer, and the various small sawmills.

GUM

The  gum trees are cut down with petrol driven chainsaws, then de-branched, cut into the required lengths and debarked in the field. They are debarked so that they may begin drying out. The gum poles are then stacked in field and left to dry out. Once the gum poles have dried out enough they are carted by tractor and trailer to a loading zone. The gum poles are then carted by truck or rail to their next destination where they will be processed.

Gum trees have various uses, including fencing poles, telephone and electrical reticulation poles, support struts in the mines, building materials, pulp,  paper and many others.

The main purchaser of gum poles within our area are  SAPPI, MONDI, and local sawmills as well as pole treating plants, where the poles are treated with chemicals to make them weather resistant.

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Revised: April 18, 2012 09:35:38 -0400 . (South African standard time)