For years, Kogelberg branch has wanted to have a poster campaign in December to alert the people of Betty’s Bay to the threat of growing forests of NZXT’S – New Zealand Christmas trees (Metrosideros exelsa) in our village; forests which out-compete our incomparable fynbos treasures, drain our water from wetlands, and make areas impenetrable.

We have our own trees to provide windbreaks, privacy, and shade. On the posters we suggest the Rooiels (Cunonia capensis) and Boekenhout (Rapanea melanophloeos); we can also add the Wild Peach (Kiggelaria africana).

 Imagine our delight when SANBI (SA Biodiversity Institute) in the form of Dr Ernita van Wyk decided that now was the time to mount a serious campaign against the NZXT’s of Betty’s Bay. Ernita is Western Cape Co-ordinator; Invasive Species Programme, Applied Biodiversity Research.

First, Ernita visited the area when Jan Joubert showed her the enormity of the problem. Then she invited stakeholders, BotSoc members and interested parties to a meeting on Friday 11^th December at Harold Porter NBG. I think we all felt cheered by that gathering. Here was someone from a government institution ready to take on this tough project; someone who is optimistic in the face of a physically huge problem and appreciates the need to get the municipality to be tough and the residents obedient.

Some thirty-five people were at the meeting including the Chairman of the Betty’s Bay Ratepayers, Rudi Perold, two uniformed municipal fire officers, and most of the committee of the Kogelberg Branch of BotSoc. Ernita had met with the Overstrand Environmental Managers the previous week as they were not able to come to Betty’s Bay on that date.

Legislation (NEMBA)* which has been in force since October 2014, puts NZXT’s into category 1a in the Overstrand which means it must be eradicated. It also requires the seller of a property to give a list of invasive species present; the buyer could institute a civil claim against the seller.

Betty’s Bay is the area most affected and Ernita believes that the population here is small enough to be dealt with unlike the huge populations of Port Jackson and Rooikrans in other areas.

The management plan would include identifying areas of high, medium and low infestation. Sunny Seas would fall into the high category; Louis van Heerden volunteered to get out there to get a clear picture, block by block, of the bad spots. Ernita has now provided a map and information sheet for volunteers to use in a survey of Sunny Seas. Also part of the plan will be the investigation of effective herbicides. At present a mixture of Garlon and diesel has been used successfully. The final step in the plan will be to develop a management scenario.

The SANBI team will first come into the area to carry out research which will include the removal of some NZXT’s. Action on a broader scale can be expected after the winter of 2016. Without intervention, twenty years hence we could find Sunny Seas transformed into Shady Seas.

Betty’s Bay Hack Convenor for twenty-six years, Edward Silberbauer, said he has heard many promises of action against NZXT’s, including from the Overstrand Municipality. Can we, like Ernita, be optimistic that this time we will see action?

*National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act