Grootbos Foundation Tackles Invasive Plants After Wildfires

An update on the hard labour side of conservation: Since the wildfires of last summer, an initiative called Rise of the Fynbos has begun to raise funds and pay independent teams of locals to remove invasive plants as they have begun to shoot within the wild fynbos landscape. This initiative is built on the principle that invasive plants, as well as indigenous fynbos, have evolved to survive fire and to regrow with renewed energy after a fire. This presents a unique opportunity to create jobs for humans and to remove invasive plants while they are still small and before teams need chainsaws to get on top of the problem, which, at the same time, gives fynbos plants a fighting chance to thrive instead of being overshadowed and outcompeted by invasives. This is a photo of a tiny alien myrtle plant that is still easy to pull out before it matures and develops seeds of its own...

This week, while it was still cool in the landscape, some of the Grootbos Foundation volunteers spent time hand-pulling myrtle plants from an area of particular biodiversity interest and water significance.

This is an invasive stinkbean plant (Paraserianthes lophantha) that has grown to this formidable size since the fire in January 2026... It was only just still small enough to be overpowered and removed by hand in order to allow the other indigenous species beneath it to survive.