Fallen Tree

A sad feature we found as we drove was the presence of so many invasive alien plants. To be clear about the terminology: this refers to plants that naturally grow in other countries, not South Africa, and which were brought here by Europeans. The British came to South Africa in the late eighteenth century, and soon turned us into another of their many colonies. They brought plants here from their other colonies especially in Asia and Australia, from places with a similar climate. We also had plants brought in from South and North America. Some were brought deliberately, some accidentally. The problem with many of these plants is this. They find in much of South Africa a climate that is perfect for their needs; they also find willing pollinators and seed dispersers. What they do not have here yet, is an adequate array of natural predators to keep their numbers in line. (Just for interest: the majority of 'plant predators' are actually insects, particularly weevils which infest their seeds, and which are highly specific to particular plants or plant groups.) This means that many of these plants multiply exponentially and spread all over the place. They do not confine themselves to the gardens, orchards or plantations for which they were originally intended, but invade the wild countryside. They often grow into dense thickets which exclude other plant species. So, not only have the native plants been removed by deliberate human actions that turned their land into farmland or plantation, but even in the patches the humans have left alone, the invasive plants are now also coming in and crowding out the natives. Over so much of the road we drove, the invasive plants constituted the majority of the species.

Crotolaria	Crocosmia aurea

In the end, we failed to find our grassland before the dark closed in. Wiam had also set out to find it on a previous occasion, and failed. The grassland seems to not want to be found! This is why I nicknamed it the Grassland of the Phantom Zone. Two tries down … maybe it will be third time lucky? We'll see! I'll report back if and when we do manage to find it. But this is somewhat of a mission of Bronwyn's and Wiam's: to find these small patches, to assess them – see how much remaining plant diversity they hold, and which rare and endangered species – and then to see how much and what kind of protection we can arrange to give them. We also need to launch efforts to clean these patches up by removing enough of the invasives so that there's room to grow for the natural plants again. Ultimately we wish to link these patches together as much as possible with corridors, so that both plants and animals can spread from one to another, rather than being isolated in patches that are too small to contain viable and genetically diverse populations.

Gladiolus	Pavonia

To a large degree, we are fighting a losing battle. Human populations in the region continue to grow; there's ongoing pressure to 'develop' even more wild land so that somebody can make money off it. And even if land is protected, if there's not a heavy input of work to clear it of invasive species, it will continue to deteriorate and native species will continue to disappear from it. We also need to manage such land with fire regimens of the right frequency, to allow the fire-adapted plants to grow and flower. It is difficult to get the kind of finances and support to do all of this. This is a problem all over the planet, and with concerns that are even more pressing, such as global climate change and pollution. We as humans need to focus NOW on these problems or they will become worse, and multitudes of future people will suffer with a planet that's becoming progressively less hospitable to life, including human life. But we sit right now with so many other man-made (I deliberately use that gender) problems like poverty and totally pointless and unnecessary wars. But we have to hang onto hope, or we will do nothing. And there's still time. We can solve our problems, we can rewild and restore the planet, and we can establish peace among humanity as well – if we have the will and the courage.

Watsonia

Willem

01.05.23 Front Page

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