PROGRESS

A beautiful stretch of indigenous forest along a stream that flows during the summer rainy season. There are mature trees to help form a canopy, but the understory has been decimated. Plants such as snake lilies and ferns have disappeared; and saplings are being crowded out too. Cestrum, an alien tree, grows skywards and then falls upon older trees, crushing and destroying them even as it send out new shoots. Almost every plant you see in this photograph is alien to South Africa. (Image: Vanessa Stephen)

The Top Dam is an old municipal dam which was leased by Connor’s father many years ago. The watercourse has dried up a lot over the years, so it has become much shallower, and aliens extend around it and march up Corridor One. It is, however an important place for local wildlife, which visit the dam to drink. It is a key area for restoration as there are a number of mature trees here and some interesting understorey species. A key aim is to clear the Mauritius Thorn creeper that could kill the trees, and start work on understorey invaders such as the ginger lilies. You can see the edge of the bamboo forest to the right.

On the left is an area that is a homogenous green: this was almost all Mauritius Thorn that is now being returned to a wetland, bisected by two streams (2022).

Beautiful, ethereal bamboo is swallowing every inch of this area. Skeletons of forest bushwillow and a handful of giant survivors remain. It’s a complete monoculture and is growing all the time. Time to beat back the tide! In the image below, the Bamboo Forest can be seen extending up from the bottom of the drone shot. The crowns of just a couple of trees remain. (Drone images: David Southwood)