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FEATURE

LANDSCAPE HERITAGE

AND LANDSCAPE MAPS

The Institute for Environment and Recreation Management (IERM) recently held
its annual convention in Somerset West, Cape Town. Bruce Eitzen, founder and
president of Landscape Heritage Southern Africa (LHSA), presented an overview

covering landscape heritage, online landscape maps and a landscape encyclopedia
known as Landscapedia.

Agricultural, indigenous and vernacular landscapes

is presentation covered the diversity the greater scheme of things and what devastating landscape heritage
of the landscape map’s ten layers does it cover that it is not covered already? destructions occurred. The first was the
Hand the precise concept of what Broadly, landscape heritage sits between fire on Devil’s Peak that destroyed the
landscape heritage is. “It is very much the the natural and cultural environments, historic pine plantations around Rhodes
elephant in the room of heritage, referred think SANBI (biodiversity), SANParks Memorial and UCT, not to mention burning
to by all but in no way really studied (national parks) and Parks and Recreation down the Jagger Library and historic
by anyone in particular. Therefore, the Planning (landscape design). Thus, in a Ecology Conservation Unit (ECU), as well as
landscape and heritage industry is inclined South African context, we could envisage a numerous historic buildings. SANParks has
to take landscape heritage for granted,” South African National Landscape Institute been decimating the remaining trees on
says Eitzen. (SANLI) that would be a very necessary the slopes of Devil’s Peak since, answerable
The aim of Landscape Heritage Southern interface between the three. only to themselves.
Africa is to very firmly put landscape We have a situation today where key They further wish to remove all exotic
heritage on the map, focussing on landscape heritage sites such as Table plantations such as Cecilia Forest and Tokai
developing the idea in both the public and Mountain, Rhodes Memorial, forests and Forest without recognising their important
professional domain that it is tangible as national monuments even, are under social and landscape role, as they are solely
well as intangible, significant and worthy threat by the narrow-mindedness of the focussed on indigenous biodiversity. Our
of attention and conservation. various role players, with nobody to speak incredible landscape heritage has little
up loudly enough for the destruction of legal protection of its own.
What does it cover? landscape heritage that is taking place. The second landscape heritage disaster
Where does landscape heritage fit into By way of example, in 2021 two was the destruction of the historic Great

16 Landscape SA • Issue 120 2022