Invasive Alien Plant Clearing
Invasive alien plants have detrimental effects on the natural environment. These plants compete with indigenous vegetation for water, nutrients, and sunlight. In our case at Dunefields, we have Rooikrans and pine trees as the biggest invader. These two invading species grow faster and more vigorously than the indigenous fynbos which leads to the former species being out-shaded and then killed as fynbos species do not grow well under the canopies of other plants. The implications of not managing these invaders are biodiversity loss, change in ecological process such as fire, risk of extreme fires with build-up fuel load and the monoculture of these species. Dunefields is all about promoting diversity in the landscape, and therefore we have been actively eradicating Rooikrans trees and pine trees.
The large pine trees have died after being ring-barked, and they have now been felled.
The branches of all the dead pine trees have been collected from the veld to be chipped. We use these wood chips on our roads to promote a smoother driving experience through the nature reserve.
The large tree trunks have been cut up, and have been dispersed in the veld where it can be inhabited and fed on by insects.
Large piles of Rooikrans branches that were too big to be wood chipped, have been burnt in a stack-burn.
Follow-up clearing of pine and Rooikrans trees are extremely important in controlling the spread of these alien and invasive species. The follow-up clearing is being done by pulling out the saplings or by brush cutting the Rooikrans trees, as this species specifically don’t have the ability to resprout once cut.
A stack burn was executed safely and under permit to get rid of some of the dried branches that we have collected from our roads and trails after alien invasive vegetation clearing was done.