COVER NOTE FOR SUBMISSION OF INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES MANAGEMENT
INFORMATION
Use one sheet per each type of information submitted
NAME OF COUNTRY or ORGANIZATION
CONTACT PERSON ON TECHNICAL CONTENTS OF THE INFORMATION
Name of the contact person
Ms Ntakadzeni Tshidada
Name of her/his organization
Department of Environmental Affairs
Postal
address
of
the Private Bag X447
organization
Pretoria
0001
South Africa
Phone number
+27 12 399 9572
+ (country
number)
code)-(area
code)-(phone
E-mail address
ntshidada@environment.gov.za
TYPE OF INFORMATION SUBMITTED – Tick one information source in the right column
Peer reviewed journal publication
√
Other publication, e.g. case study, legislation, best practice
√
Unpublished (sharable)
Suggested citation in the CBD
document(s), if any preference
exists
SUGGESTED CATEGORY OF THE INFORMATION SUBMITTED
Tick in the right column for relevant session (multiple answers allowed if needed)
Wildlife trade
e-commerce
Positive case of biological control on IAS
√
Negative case of biological control on IAS
A tool on assessing or evaluating social consequences of IAS introduction
A tool on assessing or evaluating economic consequences of IAS introduction
√
A tool on cost-benefit analysis for eradication of IAS
√
Management measures on IAS
√
Control measures on IAS
√
A tool for examining impact of climate change on IAS establishment/spread
√
A tool for examining impact of land-use change on IAS establishment/spread
√
Other
SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE INFORMATION SUBMITTED
Development of decision-support tools for assessing and evaluating the social, economic and
ecological consequences of invasive alien species; cost-benefit analyses for eradication,
management and control measures; and tools for examining the impacts of climate change and
land-use change on biological invasions (paragraph 9 (c) of decision XII/17).
In South Africa, there are currently three pieces of legislation that relate to Invasive Alien Species
(IAS) namely, the Agricultural Pest Act, 1983 (Act 36 of 1983) (APA), Conservation of Agricultural
Resources Act, 1983 (Act No. 43 of 1983) (CARA) and the National Environmental Management:
Biodiversity Act, 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004) (NEMBA). CARA and APA are administered by the
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) whereas NEMBA is administered by the
Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA).The purpose of APA and its subordinate legislations is
to provide for measures by which agricultural pests may be prevented and combated and for matters
connected therewith. The Act also regulates plants, plant products and other regulated articles when
imported into South Africa. The CARA sets out the regulations regarding the control of weeds and
invasive plants and provides a list of declared plants, in which they are divided into three categories.
There is an exception in the regulations regarding biological control reserves. These are areas where
permission is granted for declared plants not to be controlled because they are used for introducing
and monitoring biological control agents. These regulations refer to 198 invasive alien plant species,
which are classed into 3 categories. Chapter five (5) of NEMBA addresses species and organisms
posing a threat to Biodiversity. The purpose of NEMBA as it relates to Alien Invasive Species is to
prevent the unauthorised introduction and spread of Alien and Invasive species to ecosystems and
habitats where they do not naturally occur; manage and control Alien and Invasive Species to prevent
or minimise harm to the environment and to biodiversity in particular; and to eradicate alien invasive
species from ecosystems and habitats where they may harm such ecosystems or habitats. In 2014,
DEA published Regulations on Alien and Invasive Species (AIS) in terms of the NEMBA, for
implementation. The AIS Regulations are aimed at preventing the introduction of more species that
may be potentially invasive into the country, as a first priority. This entails monitoring of deliberate
and accidental introduction of species through the airports, harbours, and land borders and through the
mail. A total of 559 alien species are listed as invasive, in four different categories. A further 560
species are listed as prohibited, and may not be introduced into the country. Introduction of new alien
species into the country will be subjected to a risk assessment to determine the potential harm from
introduction of the species into the country.
South Africa has adopted and modified the Australian Weed Risk Assessment system which is a
question-based assessment of the weed potential of plants proposed for import. The risk assessment
involves answering questions on specific characteristics of an organism. The answers provide
guidance to whether the proposed species should be accepted, rejected or subjected to further
evaluation prior to the importation of the species.
In addition, South Africa through, in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg, initiated a
Barcoding project in 2005. To date most barcoding research at the African Centre for DNA Barcoding
(ACDB) has focused on building the reference library of DNA barcodes for land plants. As a result
we now have barcodes for more than 23 000 African plant taxa on the Barcode of Life Data Base
(BOLD), these include both native and invasive species. ACDB’s work on DNA barcoding of trees
and shrubs in the Kruger Park resulted in a ground-breaking paper published in the Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences, United States of America (USA) in 2008. ACDB was also one of the
key contributors to the Plant Working Group of Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) that
published a landmark paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA in July
2009 assessing the utility of various gene regions for DNA identification and recommending a global
standard.
The ACDB is in partnership with the Department of Environmental Affairs’ (DEA’s) Biosecurity
division to identify invasive alien species that threaten biodiversity, which are smuggled in and out of
the country through border posts. The first step was to setup a project on BOLD, collect all invasive
species occurring within South Africa and to barcode them. A pilot study was also launched at OR
Tambo International Airport to test if barcoding can assist in identifying invasive species entering the
country; this has proven successful and will be expanded in future to different border posts and
airports within the country. In partnership with McGill University in Canada DNA barcoding, species
distribution modelling, and climate forecasting are also used to predict the future distribution of nonnative plant species in South Africa.
With regards to the research work on invasive species, SANBI has been tasked with administering the
work of the Research Advisory Panel. The primary function of the Research Advisory Panel is to
advise the Government, on a research strategy and priorities for research projects and expenditure.
The research includes, but is not limited to the impacts of invasive species on ecosystems. In addition,
South Africa has produced a number of publications and studies (attached as Annexure B) on costbenefit analyses for eradication, management and control measures; and tools for examining the
impacts of climate change and land-use change on biological invasions.
OTHER INFORMATION, IF ANY
URL to download http://
http://www.arc.agric.za/arc-ppri/Pages/Weeds%20Research/Weeds-Research.aspx
http://www.agis.agric.za/wip/
http://www.invasives.org.za/item/552-new-biocontrol-agents-cleared-for-release.html
http://www.sanbi.org/information/infobases/invasive-alien-plant-alert
Submission of Information on Invasive Alien Species Management
Development of decision-support tools for assessing and evaluating the social, economic and
ecological consequences of invasive alien species; cost-benefit analyses for eradication,
management and control measures; and tools for examining the impacts of climate change and
land-use change on biological invasions (paragraph 9 (c) of decision XII/17).
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Hall; 1994.
Burrows EH. The Leyden tradition in South African medicine. S Afr Med J. 1956;30:257–258.
Coetzee JA, Bownes A, Martin GD. Prospects for the biological control of submerged macrophytes in
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Dodd AP. The biological control campaign against prickly pear. Brisbane: Commonwealth Prickly
Pear Board Bulletin, Government Printer; 1940.
Görgens AHM, Van Wilgen BW. Invasive alien plants and water resources in South Africa: Current
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Henderson L. Alien weeds and invasive plants. Plant Protection Research Institute Handbook No. 12.
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Hoffmann JH, editor. Biological control of weeds in South Africa. Agr Ecosyst Environ. Special
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