The Champion of South African Trees

South Africa is home to more than 1 700 indigenous species of trees and shrubs, some of which are threatened because of their rarity as well as the pressure of commercial and subsistence use.

Currently, more than 70 trees and groups of trees have been declared national “Champion Trees” by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which means they are fully protected under the National Forests Act of 1998.

Under the declaration, tree species listed as protected may not be cut, disturbed or damaged and their products may not be owned, transported, exported or sold without a licence. Once a tree is listed as a Champion, all trees of the species fall under the protection of the Act.

“Listing certain species as protected is not primarily aimed at preventing the use of a tree species, but to ensure sustainable use through licensing control measures,” says Champion Tree coordinator Izak van der Merwe.

Trees include two massive Australian Moreton Bay fig trees (Ficus macrophylla), one standing on the campus of the University of Cape Town and the other inside the Pretoria Zoological Gardens.

Both these trees have a crown diameter of more than 40 metres, and trunk circumference of more than 16 metres and 9 metres respectively.

In the Goudveld Forest near Knysna, Western Cape, one of the more recent Champions has been renamed the Dalene Matthee Big Tree, as a tribute to the author who wrote a best-seller series of historic novels about life in the forests in the 19th century.

Previously known as the Krisjan se Nek Big Tree, this Outeniqua yellowwood (Podocarpus falcatus), is nearly 900 years old and stands 40m tall.

The 1 000-year-old Wonderboom Wild Fig tree (Ficus salicifolia), located in Pretoria, has the largest crown of all the champion trees with a diameter of 61 metres, while in Limpopo stands the largest indigenous tree in South Africa – the Sagole baobab tree (Adansonia digitata) – with a trunk circumference of more than 33 metres.

The Twin Giants of Woodbush State Forest in Magoebaskloof, Limpopo, are the tallest of the lofty Saligna blue gum trees (Eucalyptus saligna), and were measured by professional tree climbers in 2008.

Reference : https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/governance/sustainable/trees-140113

Black Monkey Thorn Tree - one of South Africa’s Indigenous species of trees