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Carte Blanche

Barking up the wrong trees

Video
13 December
๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿฎ ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿญ. Largescale and organised bark stripping in Cape Town's Newlands Forest is slowly but surely killing it. The harvesting of tree bark for sale and use in traditional medicines is causing a growing army of the cityโ€™s nature lovers to take action. They say itโ€™s the equivalent of stripping the skin off living humans as it rips away the treesโ€™ ability to disperse water and nutrients. Joining SANParks on patrol under the cover of night, Carte Blanche investigates the mission to save a forest from bark strippers, and how best to secure a place in society for traditional practices.