natural areas. In light of a good number of successes, South Africa is now recognised
as a world leader in plant biological control.
The initial impetus for the international program of SCOPE (Scientific Committee
on Problems of the Environment) that began modern invasion science came from a
SCOPE workshop held in 1980 at Hermanus, South Africa, on the ecology and
conservation of Mediterranean-type ecosystems. Discussions at the workshop led to
a proposal to the SCOPE governing board in 1982 that was approved and led to a
decade-long program of workshops with hundreds of participants throughout the
world (including one workshop in South Africa). This program produced five books,
two journal special issues, and many other papers. South African scientists were
heavily involved in the SCOPE program from the start, and 5 of the 22 authors of the
synthesis volume published in 1989 were South African. Of the five SCOPE books,
only the South African one—The Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions
in Southern Africa—fully addressed the stated SCOPE project goal of applying
scientific knowledge to solving environmental problems, with 11 of its 25 chapters
dealing with management. The other SCOPE products dealt almost exclusively with
the academic question of why some species become invasive upon introduction to
new areas and others do not or were largely depictions of ecological impacts of
particular invasions. This focus of the South African volume on integrating science
with management has been a continuing hallmark of South African invasion science
that contrasts with the rather separate academic and applied endeavors in other
nations leading invasion research—the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.
The South African Working for Water program initiated in 1995 immediately
attracted global attention and excitement as the largest public works program ever
conceived to tackle plant invasions, thereby aiding biodiversity and water conservation and at the same time addressing poverty by creating jobs and developing
human skills. Its continuing evolution and innovation with a mix of biological
control, chemical control, and mechanical or manual control is of utmost interest
as not only South Africa but other nations worldwide cope with similar problems,
often involving the same invasive plants that besiege South Africa. The Centre for
Invasion Biology, established in 2004 as a network housed at Stellenbosch University but with associated scientists and students throughout the country, is a unique
organisation that is widely admired as an enormously productive locus of research
and training on mechanisms, impacts, and management of invasions and an international hub of influential discussions on invasion science and policy. The hundreds
of papers published annually under the Centre’s imprimatur in leading international
journals epitomise a long tradition in South African invasion science—a plethora of
books, journal articles, and widely distributed reports from universities and government agencies that have placed South Africa in the forefront of research to understand, manage, and adapt to one of the great global changes transforming all
ecosystems and affecting the human societies that depend on them.
Along with the wealth of invaders and the strong attempt to cope with them that
has increasingly developed over the past few decades have also come innumerable
conflicts and controversies, often of the sorts that beset other nations. Thus,
South Africa has invasive plants that are ecologically damaging yet beloved by the
vi
Foreword
as a world leader in plant biological control.
The initial impetus for the international program of SCOPE (Scientific Committee
on Problems of the Environment) that began modern invasion science came from a
SCOPE workshop held in 1980 at Hermanus, South Africa, on the ecology and
conservation of Mediterranean-type ecosystems. Discussions at the workshop led to
a proposal to the SCOPE governing board in 1982 that was approved and led to a
decade-long program of workshops with hundreds of participants throughout the
world (including one workshop in South Africa). This program produced five books,
two journal special issues, and many other papers. South African scientists were
heavily involved in the SCOPE program from the start, and 5 of the 22 authors of the
synthesis volume published in 1989 were South African. Of the five SCOPE books,
only the South African one—The Ecology and Management of Biological Invasions
in Southern Africa—fully addressed the stated SCOPE project goal of applying
scientific knowledge to solving environmental problems, with 11 of its 25 chapters
dealing with management. The other SCOPE products dealt almost exclusively with
the academic question of why some species become invasive upon introduction to
new areas and others do not or were largely depictions of ecological impacts of
particular invasions. This focus of the South African volume on integrating science
with management has been a continuing hallmark of South African invasion science
that contrasts with the rather separate academic and applied endeavors in other
nations leading invasion research—the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.
The South African Working for Water program initiated in 1995 immediately
attracted global attention and excitement as the largest public works program ever
conceived to tackle plant invasions, thereby aiding biodiversity and water conservation and at the same time addressing poverty by creating jobs and developing
human skills. Its continuing evolution and innovation with a mix of biological
control, chemical control, and mechanical or manual control is of utmost interest
as not only South Africa but other nations worldwide cope with similar problems,
often involving the same invasive plants that besiege South Africa. The Centre for
Invasion Biology, established in 2004 as a network housed at Stellenbosch University but with associated scientists and students throughout the country, is a unique
organisation that is widely admired as an enormously productive locus of research
and training on mechanisms, impacts, and management of invasions and an international hub of influential discussions on invasion science and policy. The hundreds
of papers published annually under the Centre’s imprimatur in leading international
journals epitomise a long tradition in South African invasion science—a plethora of
books, journal articles, and widely distributed reports from universities and government agencies that have placed South Africa in the forefront of research to understand, manage, and adapt to one of the great global changes transforming all
ecosystems and affecting the human societies that depend on them.
Along with the wealth of invaders and the strong attempt to cope with them that
has increasingly developed over the past few decades have also come innumerable
conflicts and controversies, often of the sorts that beset other nations. Thus,
South Africa has invasive plants that are ecologically damaging yet beloved by the
vi
Foreword