The City of Cape Town is inviting all residents or businesses that handle trees and plant material to the upcoming information sessions on the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer beetle (PSHB).
Sessions will be held in Claremont, Pinelands, Durbanville, Kraaifontein and Somerset West. These sessions are aimed at educating the public on how to identify infested trees and manage and transport beetle infested biomass to prevent the spread of the pest as far as possible.
The PSHB beetle poses a serious threat to Cape Town’s urban forest and biodiversity. To date, PSHB has been confirmed in over 6 000 trees in the City among which Boxelders, London Planes, English Oaks, Beef Wood, Weeping Willow, Cape Chestnut, Black Locust, Paperbark and Maples. The following areas are affected: Somerset West, Strand, Penhill, Newlands, Constantia, Rondebosch, Observatory, Mowbray, Rosebank, Claremont, Kenilworth, Wynberg, Diep River, Pinelands, Durbanville, Brackenfell, Kraaifontein, Bellville and Parow North.
Disposal of infested material
“Improper handling, movement and disposal of PSHB infested material continues to aid the spread of PSHB across the city,” said Eddie Andrews, Deputy Mayor and Mayco member for Spatial Planning and the Environment.
“The use of pesticides and fungicides have not proven effective at eradicating PSHB from infected trees. Therefore, an infested tree and plant material must be chipped, incinerated or solarised. We need the support and collaboration of residents and businesses working with plant material to prevent the spread of the pest.
“There are many formal and informal businesses involved with gardening and landscaping space. These are gardeners, nurseries, horticulturists, tree fellers, woodcutters, and many more. We are also encouraging residents to attend, especially if you have trees on your private property.”
Protocols
The City will focus on the protocols applicable to infested trees and biomass, among them:
– How to identify infested trees and what symptoms to look out for;
– What to do next, what not to do;
– How to handle infested biomass;
– How to safely dispose of infested biomass;
– How to transport green waste;
– How to handle equipment and machinery in a manner that will not spread the pest to other areas.
Symptoms
Residents should look out for the following symptoms of infested trees:
• Branch die-back – cracks on the branch, discoloured leaves, dry and leafless branches, branch break-off revealing webs of galleries filled with black fungus;
• Gumming – blobs of goo coming out of the bark, oozing of liquid and gum from the beetle holes;
• Entry and exit holes – very small holes on the bark of the tree, the size of a sesame seed (2mm); shotgun-like scars developing around the holes;
• Staining – brown or dark stains on the bark of the tree.
Information sessions will be held as follows:
- In Durbanville on Tuesday 25 November from 16:00 to 18:00 at Durbanville Library, corner of Oxford Street and Koeberg Road, Durbanville.
- In Bellville on Wednesday 26 November from 09:30 to 12:00 at Bellville Library, Carl van Aswegen Street, Bellville.
- In Constantia on Tuesday 9 December from 09:30 to 12:00 at the Alphen Centre, Main Road, Constantia.
- In Gordon’s Bay on Thursday 11 December from 16:00 to 18:00 at Gordon’s Bay Library, 6 Watt St, Gordons Bay.
- In Kraaifontein on Monday 15 December from 16:00 to 18:00 at Kraaifontein Library, Brighton Road, Kraaifontein.
Report sightings
• Report PSHB beetle sightings online at www.capetown.gov.za/InvasiveSpecies, contact the City of Cape Town’s Invasive Species Unit on 021 444 2357 from Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 16:00, or send an email to invasive.species@capetown.gov.za.
You must be logged in to post a comment.