Invasive species removal
Invasive plant species, also known as invasive plants or weeds, often outcompete native vegetation, disrupt local ecosystems, and can cause harm to the environment, agriculture, and even human health. More than 500 Social Employment Fund participants – predominantly from deeply rural communities living in close proximity to nature reserves and conservation areas – are working with the African Conservation Trust in removing invasive vegetation. The initiative has many goals, which include reducing soil erosion, improving animal grazing, and protecting environmental biodiversity. However, the project has produced unexpected benefits for the SEF participants.
Fuel and fencing
One example is the removal of sekelbos (Dichrostachys cinerea – a type of hardwood that burns hot and produces lots of coal) which, though it is indigenous, is a highly invasive shrub. A consequence of poor livestock grazing practices, sekelbos easily out-competes other native pioneer species, causing bush encroachment and livestock food reduction. Fortunately, excellent firewood is produced from sekelbos, and participant teams sell or donate the dried wood in their communities as a project by-product.
Sheleza is a small village located on the western boundary of the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve. Due to its isolated location, it is extremely difficult for community members to find employment. Zizwe Sibiya, who is the team leader of the Sheleza greening team, says that even though electricity is available in the area, it is unaffordable for unemployed households. “Many people are unemployed, so they are unable to buy electricity. Many (families) use firewood to cook, so community members take whatever we have cut…”
70 kilometres north of Sheleza, the Gumbi community is using their sekelbos to counter another problem – goats. Livestock, especially hungry goats, can quickly devour a subsistence farmer’s entire harvest of vegetables, but sekelbos can provide strong, environmentally friendly fencing for gardens and kraals at a fraction of the cost. Siphesihle Thabethe has harvested more than two tons of sekelbos which he is using to construct a fence around his homestead garden. “The garden is about 100 x 70 or more. I want to use it to plant vegetables to sell. My team has helped with some of the work, but most of the sekelbos I went to get by myself when I’ve done with my working days.” Some teams have also sold surplus sekelbos as firewood (it is an extremely popular braai wood). The Gumbi Hlambanyathi team, for example, worked together to gather a large harvest. Once sold, they used the profits to buy crops for their food gardens.
Erosion control
The thick sekelbos branches are not the only invasive that can be repurposed. Thorny tree branches stacked closely together can make a protective fence or positioned on hill contours, to manage livestock movement. The material can also be used for erosion control.
Removed alien vegetation is being put to good use by SEF teams in the amaZizi and amaNgwane traditional authority areas of the Drakensberg. There are massive soil erosion gullies, in some cases 10 metres deep, in the upper Tugela area, which is a key watershed and catchment area for KZN and Gauteng. Through their own innovation, SEF participants are using black wattle in the form of poles (removed by another environmental project in the area), to build gully barriers. The smaller branches and bushes are laid into the gullies to help slow the water down, which results in rapid silt accumulation behind the wall, assisting with the rehabilitation of the donga.
This innovative utilization of removed invasive plant material for construction, firewood, and income generation exemplifies the SEF programme’s commitment to fostering employment and economic growth for its participants, all while contributing to a healthier and more sustainable environment.
