Victoria Falls Car Park

No-one was more saddened than us when the cathedral-like trees at VF were flattened in the devastation of a storm in January 2005. In FCS plantations in North Scotland we have (to date!) cleared about 700,000 m3 of timber as a result of those storms - with the fallen trees cleared from VF in 2007 - although we found ourselves the subject of a complaint for having "clear felled" them!. The paths and the viewing platform were ruined too, but more importantly on inspection we found that the rock base that supported the viewing platform was unstable and our original idea of 'a quick fix' to get the path and platform reopened had to be rethought. The viewing platform could not be replaced, but a path was put in again although the blown trees once extracted could not be replaced. We subsequently found that the trees that were left also started to blow and regrettably in the interests of safety the decision to fell these too was taken last year. But it's not all bad news. In 2009 we are undertaking an interpretation planning exercise for all of Slattadale forest. This includes consultation with stakeholders including local communities, and other communities of interest, and so an improved/alternative/replacement for the VF path will feature as a discussion point during the consultation process. We would then hope to secure finances to ensure action on the ground and we are currently trying to budget accordingly.