21.4 Management Plans for Invasive Species
South Africa’s National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEM:BA),
Alien & Invasive Species (A&IS) Regulations, published in 2014, state that “if an
Invasive Species Management Programme has been developed in terms of section 75
(4) of the Act, a person must control the listed invasive species in accordance
with such programme”. In many cases, the need for species-specific management
programmes is clear, even for species where eradication is not feasible, but neither
the Act nor the Regulations, provide guidance on which of the listed invasive species
should be the subject of such a programme. The development of national-level,
species-specific programmes for all listed species would be extremely onerous, but
there has been little to no progress even on priority species. Species-specific strategies have been developed only for Parthenium hysterophorus (Parthenium Weed),
and Campuloclinium macrocephalum (Pompom Weed) (Le Maitre et al. 2015;
Terblanche et al. 2016; see also Table 21.1). These strategies recommended different
management approaches for different administrative areas depending on the stage of
invasion. In addition, two genus-level strategies [for Australian Acacia species and
Prosopis (van Wilgen et al. 2011; Shackleton et al. 2017)], and one family-level
strategy (for Cactaceae, Kaplan et al. 2017) have been developed.
None of these strategies has been formally adopted to date, and no entities have
been established, as provided for in law, to co-ordinate and implement them (though
the aim of the National Cactus Working Group is to facilitate the implementation of
the Cactaceae strategy; Kaplan et al. 2017).
21.5 Management Plans for Invaded Areas
The successful implementation of invasive alien plant control projects relies on,
among other things, careful planning that sets realistic goals, monitoring of progress
towards those goals, and adapting management as new information comes to light. In
South Africa, there are a number of statutory requirements to develop such plans. The
management authorities of protected areas, and all other organs of state in all spheres
of government are required in terms of the NEM:BA A&IS Regulations to prepare
invasive alien species control plans; and in terms of the National Environmental
Management: Protected Areas Act (Act 57 of 2003, NEM:PAA), the management
authorities of all protected areas must submit a management plan for the protected area
for ministerial approval. In turn, plans require accurate information on the extent and
abundance of invasive species, so that the resources required to control them can be
reliably estimated. These requirements have not been adhered to in practice, however.
In terms of the NEM:BA requirement, submitted control plans covered only about 4%
of the country, mainly in the Western Cape, and almost all of the plans failed to meet
the required criteria (van Wilgen and Wilson 2018). Both the relatively small number
of plans, and the inadequacy of many plans, was attributed to a lack of capacity or
21 The Extent and Effectiveness of Alien Plant Control Projects in South Africa
609
South Africa’s National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEM:BA),
Alien & Invasive Species (A&IS) Regulations, published in 2014, state that “if an
Invasive Species Management Programme has been developed in terms of section 75
(4) of the Act, a person must control the listed invasive species in accordance
with such programme”. In many cases, the need for species-specific management
programmes is clear, even for species where eradication is not feasible, but neither
the Act nor the Regulations, provide guidance on which of the listed invasive species
should be the subject of such a programme. The development of national-level,
species-specific programmes for all listed species would be extremely onerous, but
there has been little to no progress even on priority species. Species-specific strategies have been developed only for Parthenium hysterophorus (Parthenium Weed),
and Campuloclinium macrocephalum (Pompom Weed) (Le Maitre et al. 2015;
Terblanche et al. 2016; see also Table 21.1). These strategies recommended different
management approaches for different administrative areas depending on the stage of
invasion. In addition, two genus-level strategies [for Australian Acacia species and
Prosopis (van Wilgen et al. 2011; Shackleton et al. 2017)], and one family-level
strategy (for Cactaceae, Kaplan et al. 2017) have been developed.
None of these strategies has been formally adopted to date, and no entities have
been established, as provided for in law, to co-ordinate and implement them (though
the aim of the National Cactus Working Group is to facilitate the implementation of
the Cactaceae strategy; Kaplan et al. 2017).
21.5 Management Plans for Invaded Areas
The successful implementation of invasive alien plant control projects relies on,
among other things, careful planning that sets realistic goals, monitoring of progress
towards those goals, and adapting management as new information comes to light. In
South Africa, there are a number of statutory requirements to develop such plans. The
management authorities of protected areas, and all other organs of state in all spheres
of government are required in terms of the NEM:BA A&IS Regulations to prepare
invasive alien species control plans; and in terms of the National Environmental
Management: Protected Areas Act (Act 57 of 2003, NEM:PAA), the management
authorities of all protected areas must submit a management plan for the protected area
for ministerial approval. In turn, plans require accurate information on the extent and
abundance of invasive species, so that the resources required to control them can be
reliably estimated. These requirements have not been adhered to in practice, however.
In terms of the NEM:BA requirement, submitted control plans covered only about 4%
of the country, mainly in the Western Cape, and almost all of the plans failed to meet
the required criteria (van Wilgen and Wilson 2018). Both the relatively small number
of plans, and the inadequacy of many plans, was attributed to a lack of capacity or
21 The Extent and Effectiveness of Alien Plant Control Projects in South Africa
609