A large number of trees were cut down in the Meerhof Bird Sanctuary last week by wood choppers who had seemingly worked unnoticed for quite some time.

Wood choppers worked seemingly unnoticed in the bird sanctuary.

Bird watchers discovered the devastation over the weekend and alerted Birdlife Harties and WESSA.
According to bird watchers, who found the culprits on the scene packaging the wood, the wood choppers told them they had authorisation from Meerhof School, through which they gained entrance to the bird sanctuary. This turned out to be untrue.
Kobus van der Merwe, headmaster of Meerhof School, inspected the scene on Monday after becoming aware of the carnage. “I was shocked. They must have been chopping wood for quite a while. I estimate that about 20 trees have been cut down. There was a substantial amount of wood. We discovered that the fencing to the bird sanctuary had possibly been removed. We have now closed off all entry by vehicles to the school,” Van der Merwe said.
“I think it is important that the sanctuary is properly fenced off to protect our wildlife.”
The Meehof\Ifafi Bird Sanctuary is a registered conservancy and part of the Magaliesberg UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. This area is left untouched as it is a critical breeding spot for many wildlife species, including one of the few pairs of Fish Eagle in the country. The Blue gums are also critical for several other birds of prey, including Black Sparrow Hawk and Cuckoo Hawk.
The sanctuary is also part of Hartbeespoort Nature Reserve, which is a protected area with a higher protected area status than the Magaliesberg. “The area needs to be protected by the community for future generations,” said John Wesson of Birdlife Harties and WESSA.
He regards it as strange that members of the community had not noticed or heard the activities. “We request our community to alert us if they become aware of illegal activities like these that threaten our protected environment.”