CLEARANCE PROJECTS​

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This applies to areas that are infested with invasive plants, as identified in the Problem Plants section below. These areas require concerted attention from a project team. The duration of the effort is dependent on the extent of the area, the nature of the invasive plants and the amount of resource available. The broad categories of plants that need to be cleared are the following:

 

• Large trees - primarily Gum and Camphor, with some Wattle. Requires professional expertise for tree felling and timber removal.

• Shrubs. This encompasses plants such as Bugweed, Triffid and Lantana, which can be tackled more easily and with less resources than is the case with large trees.

• Bracken. A manual process that is labour intensive but requires no specialist expertise or equipment.

• Swordfern and Wild Ginger. We are experimenting with ways of eradicating these invaders. A complication is their location, which is primarily in the watercourses.

 

The project is not able to finance clearance projects. We are able to source and supervise contractors to do the work.

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MAINTENANCE

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Once an area has been cleared of alien plants, there is a continuous requirement to control re-infestation. This process becomes easier year by year but if the maintenance is neglected, an area will quickly revert to its infested state. We perform this maintenance function by employing staff to continuously cycle through the cleared areas. Staff need to be able to identify alien plants and know how to eradicate them.

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BURNING

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We follow a regime of burning the grassland every second year. The positive effects of this are the prevention of bush encroachment and reduction of leaf litter and moribund grasses, thereby allowing sunlight to penetrate. Fire releases nutrients from decaying plant material, which stimulates the growth of new grasses and flowers. Other practical side effects are improved access for alien plant removal and reduced risk of uncontrolled fires. The devastating fires in Knysna in 2017 were fueled by an accumulation of invader plant material.

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RESTORATION

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After an extensive gum clearance project in 2017, we planted  suitable indigenous trees along watercourses in the area that had been compromised by the gums. We also planted indigenous grasses in areas that had been denuded by vehicles doing the gum removal. Normally, we focus on removing aliens and leave the natural vegetation to regenerate, which it does quite effectively.