28 October 2004

By Clifford Mogotsi

PUPILS at Tsakani Primary School in Kagiso recently got a lesson in plant identification during Mogale City's Weed Busting Week.

Weed Busting Week is a campaign aimed at educating people about the menace of alien vegetation and to promote the planting of indigenous plants.

School principal, David Nhlengani Chauke, said that while the pupils did learn about the environment as part of the integrated curriculum, holding a special function would draw attention to specific environmental issues.

"We dedicate the whole day to celebrate Weed Busting Week - so the children will learn if particular plants are wanted or not."

Mogale City's environment officer Angeline Mpshe agreed, adding: "Weed Busting Week emphasises and spreads the knowledge amongst school children about unwanted plants."

Stephan du Toit from the integrated environment management directorate told the pupils of the primary school that Weed Busting Week should be seen as another way of saving water.

"There is a government act that allows us to destroy plants that are destroying our environment and consuming lots of water. We need to be aware of these unwanted plants and get rid of them."

Weed Busting Week supports the Working for Water programme run by the departments of water and forestry affairs and of environmental affairs, tourism and agriculture.

The Working for Water programme aims - via community job-creation projects - to control invading alien plants, which are often species that need vast water resources.

According to Daphne Matlala of the Working for Water programme: "Invasive alien plants threaten indigenous vegetation as they use up valuable and limited water resources. Most of them use more water than indigenous plants and are depleting valuable underground water resources."

According to the Working for Water website (http://www.dwaf.gov.za/wfw/) "invading alien plants are the single biggest threat to plant and animal biodiversity".

These plants cover some 10 million hectares of land.

The government has listed various alien plants as being detrimental to the environment - some have to be removed completely while others need to be controlled.

Invasive alien plants were brought to South Africa from elsewhere for a variety of reasons ranging from the aesthetic to the economic.

Listed plants include: the Port Jackson, acacia saligna, black wattle, swartwattel, pepper tree, nagblom, queen of the night, honey mesquite, red sesbania, Australian blackwood, pepper boom, grey poplar, vaalpopulier and the Australian myrtle.

Roughly 750 trees species and 8 000 shrubby and herbaceous species have been introduced into South Africa from other continents. Of these some 1 000 species are naturalised and 200 are considered invasive, according to information on the Working for Water website.