THE good news is that the developed areas of KwaZulu-Natal South Coast have been able to hang on to at least a few patches of our beautiful natural coastal bush.
The bad news is that even these few urban patches are gradually being degraded. This was brought home to me when I happened to stroll along the verge of a road bordering a piece of public open land in Uvongo recently.
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At first I admired the many magnificent old trees that flourished in this public-owned slice of what should have been pristine coastal bush. Then as I walked on, my enjoyment turned to dismay. Every step I took brought me face to face with yet another alien invasive plant species thriving on the edge of trees.
Peering into the forest I noticed signs that this army of invasive plants was slowly moving inward, displacing the plants that should naturally grow among the trees. It took me less than five minutes to walk past that patch of forest and in that time I encountered a long, long list of nasties, starting with two alien trees, a Brazilian pepper tree and a syringa. After that came big patches of goosefoot, some of it already trying to strangle the surrounding trees, a good-sized patch of Singapore daisy, a couple of bug weed plants, a couple of large patches of sword fern, invasive alien morning glory and plenty of inkberry.
Where re did it all come from? Probably from local gardens belonging to people who never bother to find out about alien invasives and to check that their properties don’t harbour them. Often garden refuse is illegally dumped in our public open spaces, compounding the garden escapee problem. The invasives growing undisturbed on this piece of public open space will in turn spread the infection to surrounding gardens. It is just a never-ending cycle.
Recently, quite a bit of legislation regarding the management of alien invasives has been passed and municipalities are now legally obliged to draw up a plan to manage the alien invasive problem within their municipal boundaries.
Perhaps this will help to ensure that our few remaining patches of coastal bush are conserved for future generations.
You can help to conserve them, too. Our local conservancies do wonders regarding looking after public open spaces but they are always severely under-manned and under-funded. Support them, join them and help fund them.
You should also make a point of learning as much as possible about invasives and help to evict them from your neighbourhood. Lobby local politicians, speak out at ratepayer association meetings and find out if your municipality is abiding by the law and has an alien invasive management programme in place.
A good start would be to obtain the Wildlife and Environmental Society of South Africa (Wessa) handbook, Invasive Alien Plants in KwaZulu-Natal. You could also ask members of your local conservancy for advice regarding ridding your property of problem plants.
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