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Updated Tuesday, March 9, 2010 10:44 am TWN, By Clare Byrne, dpa

Killing trees to save water; S. Africa hunts down aliens

A South African worker points to an alien wattle tree that has just been killed on Table Mountain, South Africa. The red poison at the bottom ensures the roots do not re-grow. ...

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Killing trees to save water; S. Africa hunts down aliens

To compensate for the water it uses at its two breweries in the Cape region, South African Breweries, a subsidiary of SABMiller, the world's second-largest brewer, is paying for alien plants to be cleared from 172 hectares of land on Table Mountain, and along river banks in Eastern Cape province.

“Without sustainable and safe water supplies, we simply cannot brew beer,” Robyn Chalmers, spokeswoman for SAB said. The company, which is spending 2.5 million rand (US$337,837) to become water neutral, also invests in carbon offset schemes.

Restored to its natural state, the banks of the Witteklip river — a tributary of the Kouga River that supplies 40 percent of the water used by the province's capital, Port Elizabeth - are more resistant to erosion and recurrent flooding.

The effect on Table Mountain, says February, is to increase catchment by the streams that flow down the mountain, supplying some of the city's water, as well as making more water available to natural vegetation, improving biodiversity.

“Nothing grows under an alien tree,” says February. “When you see a natural one and a system with aliens — it's like chalk and cheese.”

The Tree Taliban, as they are jokingly referred to, are not a new phenomenon.

The government's Working for Water Programme began in 1995. Since then, it has cleared over 1.96 million hectares of alien plants and, by deliberately using people over machines, given employment to tens of thousands of jobless.

What is new is the corporate buy-in, which is voluntary.

SAB was first to come onboard, followed by South African food and clothing chain Woolworths and insurance giant Sanlam, which are also sponsoring government clearance projects.

Not all alien trees are doomed. On Table Mountain, the oaks, the umbrella-shaped pine trees that ornament the lower slopes, and other trees with cultural and historical value are spared.

“To me it's interesting because we learn so many things about the trees. We learn about the nature,” says Luxolo Mashdogu, a father of one from Khayelitsha Township on the other side of the city.

With around 10 percent of the country estimated to be covered in alien species, much work remains: “I don't think we've even made a dent,” says February.

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