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Alien organisms

Prevent the introduction of potentially harmful alien species and control and eradicate alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species.

Alien organisms in South Africa

Alien organisms are plants, animals and microorganisms which do not naturally occur in an area, and which are deliberately or accidentally introduced by humans to ecosystems outside of their natural range including species that are moved from one type of habitat to another. Alien organisms can be problematic and harmful, in that they negatively impact on biodiversity or be benign and in many instances serve useful purposes. This policy focuses upon alien organisms which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species.

Many alien plant and animal species provide important economic and social benefits, but many have become invasive, causing serious ecosystem degradation, disrupting ecological processes, and resulting in species extinctions and possible reductions in genetic diversity through hybridization. In the Cape Peninsula, for example, invasive alien plants are chiefly responsible for the highest concentration of threatened taxa in the world. Elsewhere in the country the invasion of water catchment areas by alien plants has been responsible for reducing water availability.

Policy and Strategy

Government is committed to control and regulate the introduction and spread of alien organisms through extensive legislation, as well as numerous management and research programmes. An RDP project is also underway to clear invasive alien vegetation as part of a water conservation campaign and job-creation scheme.

Government will adopt a proactive, preventative and precautionary approach to control the introduction and spread of alien organisms. This approach will take into consideration the need to balance the risks associated with introducing and releasing alien organisms with the potential social, economic and environmental benefits derived there from.

To achieve this objective, Government, in collaboration with interested and affected parties, will:

1. Review and strengthen existing legislation and punitive measures to control the introduction and spread of potentially harmful alien organisms.
2. Develop a regulatory procedure for the introduction of alien organisms into South Africa, whereby the potential risks of introduction are comprehensively assessed against intended benefits prior to introduction.
3. Develop control and eradication programmes, and provide ongoing support to existing programmes. The planning of mechanical clearing operations will take account of job creation schemes.
4. Prevent wherever feasible the unintentional introduction of alien organisms to South Africa.
5. Develop a national policy on the inter- and intra-provincial translocation and inter-basin transfer of species, including the updating of lists of prohibited and approved taxa.
6. Promote the use of local, indigenous species in rehabilitation and revegetation schemes.
7. Provide incentives to landowners to control or eradicate alien organisms identified as threatening biodiversity.
8. Strengthen, support and coordinate the efforts of existing institutions and programmes to detect the early establishment of invasive alien organisms, and to catalogue and describe such invasions.
9. Support and strengthen the development of biological and other control methods for alien organisms that threaten biodiversity.
10. Improve understanding concerning the impacts of alien organisms on biodiversity.
11. Improve public education and awareness concerning the risks posed by the planting or illegal importation of alien species.
12. Improve capacity amongst implementing agencies to regulate the introduction, control and eradication of alien organisms that threaten biodiversity.
13. Negotiate and liaise with neighbouring countries to maximise commonalities and minimise conflicts between policies, legislation, and practices relating to alien organisms that threaten biodiversity.