Hi all
If anyone is in doubt regarding the threat that
major roads play in terms of Alien plant spread please look at the
attached.
I was recently (June 11th
2010)fortunate enough to travel to the boarder post in the
north west of Tanzania. On rout I tried to GPS all the
Chromoleana odorata that I saw.
·
C. odorata is
considered one of the world’s top worst invasive and is a
particularly significant threat in Africa.
·
It spreads rapidly in savanna,
thicket and forest ecosystems, transforming habitats and
significantly into mono-specific stands of chromoleana, outcompeting
indigenous vegetation
·
It significantly promotes the spread
of very hot, intense, damaging fires, Infrastructure,
homes and biodiversity have suffered because of this in other parts
of Africa.
·
Tourism is negatively impacted on in
areas where infestations become dense because it reduces visibility
almost completely
·
It reduces food availability
significantly for both wildlife ( e.g. black rhino) and
livestock
·
One adult plant produces over 1
million airborne seeds
The dots on the map are an
underrepresentation of what I saw because I could not mark the
points fast enough with the GPS ( 5 sec delay between points) but it
gives a very clear picture. Essentially from Mugeta on and north
along the road to the border with Kenya, there is a pretty
much constant stream of Chromoleana on the road verges,
clearly spreading along the roads as we have seen in other areas in
Africa ( KZN in south Africa). There is not much south
of the Mugeta T junction ( previous survey in jan showed nothing
south of Bunda) so I think it is spreading from the north in a
southern direction along the road but cannot be sure.
My impression from the recent road survey
was that in most areas it was still emerging along the roads but in
some areas it was already invading into natural vegetation
significantly
The closest confirmed sighting I have made on the
Mara river is only a few Km’s away from the Serengeti National park,
We have also pick up plants close to and in isolated patches
in Grumeti Game Reserve ( these have been pulled out and areas are
revisited every 6 months to ensure emerging seedlings are taken
out).
Chromoleana odorata can be easily
controlled provided action is taken swiftly and the appropriate
resources are invested and the appropriate methods of clearing
applied.
I believe that if nothing is done to halt
this south-eastwards spread of this species, the Serengeti
ecosystem is at risk of becoming invaded.
In one park in South Africa over 38000ha became
invaded, threatening critical black rhino habitat. Over the past 7
years , with the appropriate strategy, planning and consistent
support from government, all 38000ha have had initial clearing
already and follow up clearing is still taking place. The problem
has thus for a been successfully dealt with, thereby
securing the ecological integrity and tourism potential of the
park.
For alien plant control programs to be successful
it is vital they they are driven and coordinated through government
to ensure long term commitment and consistency and development of
capacity internally.
There is currently organizations Africa that
specialized in developing capacity within government structures to
deal with this threat namely CABI how are active in over
18 African counties, as well as implementing organization such as
the PAMS foundation
I hope that this issues does get taken up
at the highest levels as a matter of urgency.
The good news is that I saw NO Parthenium along
the route which was a relief!
Please feel free to pass on to contacts you feel
may be able to assist.
Anyone requiring more detailed information can
contact me.
Kindest regards
Sue
p.s. Thanks to Martian and Ally for letting me go
in the trip
And thanks
to Frank for the goody box which kept us going!