Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

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4x4 Vehicles Wreaks Havoc on Environment
2014-04-16 09:40
BY Vernon Pillay

Cape Town – A new study on the environmental impacts of 4x4s suggests that the vehicles have irreversible consequences on off-road areas.

The study calls for the vehicles to be removes form off-road protected areas due to its degradation on the soil and vegetation.

Strict legal measures should be applied to regulate 4x4 use in areas where the greenery is sensitive, and specifically wetland areas should be classified as absolute no-go areas according to Dr Gerhard Nortjé a researcher in wildlife management at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Wildlife Management.

“While it may not seem that off-road driving has negative impacts on the environment, especially on the soil and vegetation, the risk of damage is real”, Nortjé told the media.

“It is not an ecologically sustainable practice and should therefore not be allowed.”

He said increased soil erosion, damage to vegetation and habitat destruction are just some of the visible negative impacts of this popular so-called “eco-tourism” activity.

Nortjé focused his research in the Makuleke Contractual Park in the Kruger National Park and argued that SANParks should reconsider its management strategies for off-road driving in protected areas altogether.

SANPark’s best practice guidelines currently recognise the potential of off-road driving to negatively impact natural resources, but do not explicitly refer to soil damage.

He probably drives a Prius or to be Brand correct for us.... a Nissan Leaf.....

Wouldn't it be ironic if this chap drove a gas guzzler, non emissions compliant vehicle on the tar road !!!

Lets look at this logically. Is there an impact on the environment? One would have to say yes to this. Now lets look at this "yes".

1) There will already be track laid out or built to ensure that the vehicles stay within the parameters of the track. Lets look at EVERY trail we as the Nissan Off Road Club has been on or driven. There are designated areas/tracks specifically there for a vehicle to drive on. So extenuating circumstances exist with the "yes".

2) Will any greenery ever grow in these tracks that constantly get driven on? Probably not, as there is not sufficient time for the plant life to grow before the next tyre drives over the track again. So the question would then need to be asked. Would the plant life not right next to the track in which the wheels are/were moving continue to grow? I find it amazing that if one looks on an empty building site where the potential builder/owner violently and with the intention of killing any and all plant life hacks through all the bush on the stand/erf. They then leave the same stand for a few months without any artificial watering and/or fertilizing, other than what nature provides, and then has to redo the whole clean up exercise again as a large amount of plant life has taken place and grown. This would also be the case in housing estates that are built in eco sensitive areas. So extenuating circumstances exist with the "yes".

3) Would the Kruger Park rather have an offroad track that can create revenue that will assist with the efficient running of the Park, and I'm talking from an environmental point of view, or would they have to spend manpower and resources to do reconstruction after "x" number of vehicles have driven all over and anywhere they like as there is no dedicated track to drive on. I think that any bird will not build its nest in the tracks as it doesn't fit into the profile of animal nature protecting its young. But if the nest is in the bush, nicely protected, and a vehicle drives along a NON designated track and now kills the bird and the nest contents, who would be to blame? The person driving, or the person that took away the tracks on which the driver would have been driving on? So extenuating circumstances exist with the "yes".

4) Many times its the Off Roading community that are the ones doing the "right thing" regarding the environment, many initiatives are supported, for example Free Me, which rehabilitate animals injured by... wait for it.... everyday road vehicles!! The AAWDC Family 4x4 Fun Day has generated large amounts of money for various environmental organizations. So, are MANY off road drivers concerned about the environment? Yes, the proof is blatantly there!!! So extenuating circumstances exist with the "yes".

5) Does one get the feeling that someone is trying to line their pockets by pushing the issue of how bad this is for the environment? I believe that this issue needs to be regulated. We all need to be aware of what is happening around us. We don't drive on the beaches. Why you ask, well I certainly DON'T want to ever be the cause of killing hundreds of unhatched or newly hatched Leatherback turtles that the female turtle has spent hours digging and laying eggs. So regulate the sport with pleasure, but this must be a non profit organization that does this, not someone doing this to make money out of a generally "free" Family fun "sport". This includes the families that enjoy overlanding and appreciating the natural beauties afforded to us by living in a country so beautiful. So extenuating circumstances exist with the "yes".

6) And yes there is unfortunately the odd chop that makes nonsense and puts us ALL in a bad light, but no amount of regulation is going to get rid of them unfortunately. This kind of thing happens with most things in life!!! So extenuating circumstances exist with the "yes".

Well said Cedric. ....

What Cedric said

I dont have time on hand to type so much.....

Nice one Cedric.
Something make me wonder?
If they, (jokers) can not keep up with normal road maintenance, how do they want to maintain the bush, to make sure 4x4's dont mess things up?
One of these good days we will need a 4x4 to drive on a tar road.

HAHAHA... there are some places up here that is already a grade 3 axle twister.....

Each and every one of us has a negative impact on our natural environment just by being alive.

I wonder how many hectares are necessary to maintain us during our lives, for everything from the plot our houses are built on, raising livestock, growing vegetables,coffee etc. to burying our rubbish and making the metal and plastic our goods are made from.

I am pretty sure if you add all that together you will get a piece of land larger than any one of us have ever laid tracks on...

Most 4x4 owners I know are at least interested in nature, and probably do more toward conservation than most normal city-dwellers. Even if only by paying for access to their favorite nature reserves.

Oh, and I just want to add my load of sour grapes: I want to bet that the good Doctor Nortje has many more miles of true bundu-bashing (going completely off-road) in national parks and elsewhere than any one of us. Is he going to start walking to do his research when he bans our fun?

While i agree that there are some terrains where vehicles should absolutely be banned, but if a track has been driven more than 200 times, the vegetation (according to research by Fritz Eloff) is well and truely dead and further driving will do no further damage as long as care is taken to prevent erosion.

Well said Peter !!!

Just to add to what Peter has said, the ratio between the damage driving on an existing marked out trail or the likes thereof, compared to the damage the we as human beings do just by living, I believe would be a VERY interesting ratio to see.I would almost go as far as saying that the damage caused just by the learned Dr Nortje from the time he was born to present would show a closer ratio than what I said earlier.

There are already rules that state, stay on the existing tracks and don't drive on the grass etc. These rules are generally adhered to by the off roading community. Why? Because we too don't want to scratch or damage our vehicles unnecessarily.We all look after our vehicles, unlike a lot of people transport vehicles that one sees on the roads, dripping oil all over the place to mention a few vehicle roadworthyness issues.

I spoke a while back to a 4x4 tour operator from Bloem. He said that they took a wrong turn on a tour in Botswana once. He made the whole group of 8 vehicles reverse the 1.2km in the existing track to the turnoff instead of turning around and damaging the veld and grass. This was in a concession just north of the Kgalagadi park.This is the type of conservation most 4x4 people are willing to do. The biggest culprits I have came across regarding damaging the environment are quad-bike riders and motocross riders. Me and a friend were in the wild-coast once ware quad-bike riders had no respect for keeping of the beaches or even "private property", driving through fields of locals and make new roads up hills ware the were non. But this was probably also an isolated case and not all of these driver are like this.

Farmers making new roads on farms are way more in the wrong than 4x4 drivers. Especially if the road is not build correct with enough runoffs for water during heavy rain. Just have a look on google earth how many farm roads there are especially in mountainous areas. Now I know how much these roads means to a farmer, my father in-law farm in an extremely mountainous part, but as I said, if it is done wrong it leads to allot of erosion.