The clean-up was aimed at removing all the invasive alien plants which include poplar, black wattle, bramble, lantana, bug weed and morning glory. Environmentalist Pauline Dickson, who is also a Ward 102 committee member, said she was proud of City Parks for taking up the initiative to organise a team of workers to clear out the invasive plants that have been choking the waterways at the sanctuary.
“This action from City Parks is going to stop the toxins from spreading into the waterways and poisoning the bird life,” explained Dickson.
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Contractor Phillip Mabena and supervisor Thabo Makitla had their team of 25 workers of TLJ Garden Services working at the sanctuary for the past two weeks.
“Usually we just conduct the grass cutting for City Parks at this site, but this time we’ve been asked to remove the invasive aliens,” said Mabena.
Dickson added, “We want to resurrect the land to its original wetland form.”
“The alien invasion has been threatening the bird life here.”
She said a more regular clean-up programme was still needed for the sanctuary, however, City Parks’ war on the invasive aliens was a great start. She added that St Stithians College helped with the maintenance of the area and security for the sanctuary.
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