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Masterplan required to tackle alien invaders

Drive up and down the highways and byways of South Africa, and what do you see? Gum, wattle and pine growing uncontrolled, everywhere. We're not talking well-managed plantations here. These uncontrolled aliens are choking the valley bottoms, straying into the wetlands and sucking up water, squeezing out the natural forest patches, eating into the grasslands – basically reducing biodiversity. The victims of this invasion are plant, animal and insect species – for now. The knock-on effect, inevitably, will be loss of habitat for humans as well.

The main culprits in this crisis are the landowners, be they private citizens, municipalities, parastatals or government departments. Their attempts at removing these trees and looking after the land, restoring the health of the environment that they manage, are pathetic.

Now herein lies an opportunity for the forestry industry. These are the three principal species grown by commercial forestry. Most of these trees that are uncontrolled have originated at some point from a commercial plantation, or a nursery supplying commercial plantations. Every time a citizen of this country, or a visitor, sees these trees growing uncontrolled where they shouldn't be, it serves to tarnish the reputation of the commercial forestry industry. It may not be conscious, but in the back of their minds they see forestry as the 'bad guy' who neglects his housekeeping.

Now you may argue that this is unfair. You are partially correct, but the perception remains. It just doesn't make us look good.

So, why doesn't the forestry industry come up with a win-win masterplan to tackle this scourge? Find a way of removing these uncontrolled trees, patch by patch, from our urban and rural landscape. Get creative and use the timber, use the biomass, and create a few jobs and build new skills in the process. Use it as a low intensity PR exercise and soon forestry will be perceived as one of the 'good guys'. Pull in Working for Water and Trees for Africa and whoever else you can. Let's show some initiative and make an impact OUTSIDE of our industry.

And then we can tackle the syringa ...

Published in September 2011

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Koos McLachlan

You can start by adding: “Getting rid of Aliens” as one of your submenus on the SA Forestry site. I have Hakea, Blackwood, Blackwattle and Pine on my small farm. I need the best methods of eradication.
Regards.

On 20 Feb 2012

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