It was Likotsi Matlali, project manager for Kindlewood Estate who took me to see the site of this rare excavation.

It was Likotsi Matlali, project manager for Kindlewood Estate who took me to see the site of this rare excavation. Arriving on location we found a team of men guiding and directing the mammoth machines around a magnificent looking tree. It looked like a sensitive operation and Likotsi assured me that it was.

It took two days of serious moving, using special chains with a breaking strength of 50 tons and almost a whole week of planning before the move to save tree number 34. The approximately two hundred year old Natal Fig (Ficus Nataleiantus) with an approximate girth of 12 metres has been spared and moved about fifty metres away from it's original to grace the green corridor on the new Kindlewood Estate in Mount Edgecombe.

A team of experts worked on this move. Mark Peacock site manager from Stedone Civils, commended Moreland Developments for their environmental awareness saying, "It would be such a waste to cut down this tree as it provides important habitat for the Vervet Monkeys, butterflies and birds" he told The Bugle. "With this move we are hoping to create a green corridor, which will continue to attract the movement of the vervet monkeys, insects and birds and protect the wetlands that lie on this verge."

Dr. Richard Kinvig the environmental consultant from Sivest, stood back as a 35 ton excavator and D65 bulldozer worked together to position and stabilize this giant of a specimen.  The biggest challenge for this type of operation is that there is no design for moving trees of this size. However Mark Peacock assures me that Dr. Kinvig knows exactly what to do when it comes to trees and the environment.

"This tree has a lot of history which we are trying to preserve" says Mark Peacock, "even though the licence has been issued to cut it down, it is really thanks to David Jollands and the forward thinking and conscientious involvement in the environment of Moreland Developments that this tree has been saved."  Such a move can add to the scientific body of knowledge and can help with future assessments with the relocation of trees.

They say miracles are rare and in this case the old tree has more than 95% chance of surviving the move and continuing to serve its habitat.

The tree before

The tree after

Likotsi Matlali, project manager for Kindlewood Estate