Saasveld Forestry College is a South African college for the training of foresters, situated on the

Garden Route The Garden Route (Afrikaans: ''Tuinroete'') is a stretch of the south-eastern coast of South Africa which extends from Witsand in the Western Cape to the border of Tsitsikamma Storms River in the Eastern Cape. The name comes from the verdant ...

in the

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

between

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and

Knysna Knysna (; ) is a town with 76,150 inhabitants (2019 mid-year estimates) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the destinations on the loosely defined Garden Route tourist route. It is situated 60 kilometres east of the c ...

. Before moving to its present location in 1932, it was located at

Tokai, Cape Town Tokai, a large residential suburb of Cape Town, South Africa, is situated on the foothills of the Constantiaberg, (a large whaleback shaped mountain in the Table Mountain range) and is bordered by Steenberg and Kirstenhof to the south, Bergvli ...

. Built on a rise between the

Outeniqua Mountains The Outeniqua Mountains, named after the Outeniqua Khoikhoi who lived there, is a mountain range that runs a parallel to the southern coast of South Africa, and forms a continuous range with the Langeberg to the west and the Tsitsikamma Mountai ...

and the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, the college commands sweeping views of

fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

-covered mountains and indigenous high forest. Between 1932 and 1985, it trained about 1300 foresters who were subsequently employed by the State and private companies such as Mondi and

Sappi Sappi Limited, originally incorporated as ''South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited'' in 1936, is a South African pulp and paper company with global operations. Products and operation South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limit ...

History

During the 19th-century, development in the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

led to an increased demand for structural and furniture timber. This led to an unhealthy strain on the indigenous forests of the Southern Cape, which had been exploited since the days of

Jan van Riebeeck Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...

. Farsighted planning called for the establishment of plantations of fast-growing exotic trees and trained foresters to manage them. To meet this need, the

South African College Schools The South African College Schools (colloquially often known as “SACS”) is a public English medium primary and high education institution situated in Newlands – part of the Southern Suburbs region of Cape Town in the Western Cape provinc ...

(SACS) started a course for forest rangers in 1902, but was superseded by the Tokai School for Forest Apprentices in 1912. At that stage forestry fell under the Department of Agriculture and was more conservation-oriented than concerned with afforestation; consequently the output of foresters was small at that time. With the rapid growth of the timber industry, it was decided to relocate Saasveld to its present position on the farm Pampoenkraal, due to its proximity to indigenous forest, open areas suitable for plantations of exotics, sawmills in the vicinity, and drying kilns in George. Many explorers, naturalists and botanists such as Thunberg,

Sparrman Anders Sparrman (27 February 1748 – 9 August 1820) was a Swedish naturalist, abolitionist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. Biography left, Miniature of Sparrman at the time of his travels with James Cook. By unknown artist. Born in Tensta, ...

, Le Vaillant, Drège, Ecklon and Zeyher had visited the farm in the preceding two centuries.

Early history

In 1854, the farm was subdivided and the portion on which the college would eventually be built was bought by the baroness Gesina van Rede van Oudtshoorn and named Saasveld, after her ancestral castle in

Overijssel Overijssel (; ; ; ) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name comes from the perspective of the Prince-Bishopric of Utrecht, Episcopal principality of Utrecht ...

, in the Netherlands. In 1867, Thomas Bain, road-maker, had surveyed the main road heading east to

and passing through Pampoenkraal. In those days a toll gate was sited near the present entrance to Saasveld. In 1917, Saasveld was bought by the George Forest Timber Co., and later acquired by Searles Limited. In 1928, ownership of the land finally passed to the State and work started on construction of the College.

Recent history

The PE Technikon expanded to the Southern Cape in 1985 when it took over the Saasveld Forestry College from the Department of Forestry.

Nelson Mandela University Nelson Mandela University, formerly Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, is a public university in South Africa. Established in 1882 as Port Elizabeth, Art School it comprises the former University of Port Elizabeth, the Port Elizabeth Tec ...

(NMU), situated in Nelson Mandela Bay, opened on 1 January 2005, the result of a merger of the PE Technikon, the University of Port Elizabeth and the Port Elizabeth campus of Vista University. Saasveld is now a satellite campus of NMU.

References

* ''Saasveld 50'' Barnard, Cameron et al. (Directorate of Forestry, Department of Environment Affairs 1983)

External links

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan UniversityUniversity of Port ElizabethUniversity of Port Elizabeth
{{Nelson Mandela University Saasveld Forestry College Nelson Mandela University Forestry in South Africa 1912 establishments in South Africa education in the Western Cape Garden Route District Municipality

History

Early history

Recent history

See also

References

External links