Alien bush clearing while the wind blows!
By Karen Keeton
Friday, 1st March 2024The wind does blow and the boats stand still…again… but the Raggy Team are forever positive, cheerful and doing something! So, let’s put this time to good use and work on a project… today we gathered between Seaview and Kini Bay, the area that was burnt 2 years ago, to clear alien bush. The Rooikrans (Acacia Cyclops), commonly known as coastal wattle, cyclops wattle, one-eyed wattle, red-eyed wattle, redwreath acacia and western coastal wattle.
This alien plant was brought to SA from Australia in the 1830’s to stabilise the dunes in the Western Cape and has spread rapidly and is now a serious pest in Southern Africa. Rooikrans produces large quantities of seeds with succulent red seed stalks which are eaten by baboons, monkeys, small rodents, water birds, such as ducks and geese, guinea-fowl and various smaller birds. These animals and the interference of man has helped to disperse the seeds over vast distances.
Rooikrans is invading, overshadowing and destroying indigenous vegetation. With fewer natural enemies in SA it grows and propagates rapidly. Once it is established in a large area it is extremely difficult to eradicate. Rooikrans has adapted very well to local conditions, thriving on the nutrient poor soils of the Cape coast and flourishes after the regular fires typical of fynbos landscapes. The problem is this alien bush burns very hot and destroys the natural indigenous plants around it.
South African folk love rooikrans wood to braai with, so folk you need to chop it and braai more! Help fight to rid our coast of this invasive species.
