Vagrants and invasive alien vegetation currently endanger the natural environment and biodiversity in Delta Park. This according to Delta Environmental Centre resident manager Geoff Lockwood and park volunteer and publisher of its online newsletter (www.deltadamcleanup.com) Shirley Tebbutt.
Lockwood explains that vagrants are making their home in the Florence Bloom Bird Sanctuary, an area meant to be people-free (see previous article). They leave litter, and evidence has been found that birds are being ensnared in the sanctuary. “We are asking the City [of Johannesburg] to push the vagrants out of the bird sanctuary,” he said. “If we can’t sort this out the whole park suffers.”
Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo spokesperson Jenny Moodley said in response, the entity “continues to regularly patrol the facility and randomly participate in joint campaigns” with Metro Police “in the removal of structures belonging to vagrants.”
Tebbutt explained that verbena plants, black wattle tress and the pompom weed are invasive alien vegetation that will spread very quickly when the summer rain arrives, and threaten biodiversity in the park. Volunteers have been removing these for a while, but, ironically, it is far easier to do so when the ground is moist from rain. “They are all a huge threat to all our grasslands in SA – dreadful things and so difficult to eradicate,” she added.
Moodley said that there have been “numerous initiatives along the spruit to eradicate invader species, however the Delta Park area is fertile ground for these species taking into consideration that it has high levels of ground water and was once a waste management plant.” She asked residents to help remove invasive vegetation during their walks. She said that the entity has listed unwanted species on its website, and will investigate placing a notice board with images to help Delta Park users differentiate between indigenous and invasive plants.
Details: Delta Environmental Centre delta@deltaenviro.org.za or 011 888 4831; Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo jcp@jhbcitypark.com or 011 712 6600.
