Machinery of big business digs deep to help move rare cycads

By Guy Rogers Environment & Tourism Editor

THE machinery of big business has come to the aid of conservation in the Addo Elephant National Park with an unusual cycad transfer project.

It was established after more than 800 cycads confiscated from poachers over the years had, by February, accumulated in a holding field at the park’s Woody Cape section office.

Together with the rare Alexandria cycad (Encephalartos alenarius), which is restricted globally to the local sandy dune forest, the collection included three other alien species, and there were also some hybrid or inter-bred plants.

The park decided in February that, while the alenarius would be transferred back into the forest, the exotics and hybrids, in terms of an arrangement with the provincial environment department and provincial parks board, would be transported to the Thomas Baines Nature Reserve in Grahamstown.

Some of the older specimens indigenous to that area, which the board is sure have not been hybridised, will be replanted there. Other large ones believed to be pure strains will be moved to other parts of the country where they do occur, and the rest will be auctioned off – in the first sale of its kind in the province.

The movement of these unwanted cycads was tackled first, and most of the smaller specimens were laboriously dug up and moved by hand. But with 47 of the biggest specimens left, the park decided that some heavy-duty assistance was needed.

They called Eskom and, last Thursday, a team from the corporation’s environmental division arrived at Woody Cape with a powerful front-end loader and excavator from their Uitenhage depot.

Although seasoned campaigners in other areas of eco-aid, this was the first time Eskom’s green team had tackled this particular task. With the help of the two SANParks rangers, a strategy was quickly worked out, however, with the excavator being used to dig around the plants and then scoop them out.

Where they could not be scooped, a harness was wrapped around the cycad and hooked onto the excavator to prevent any drag pressure on the sensitive stems.

Once extricated, their roots were chopped off to allow for easier transportation. A growth hormone powder, to encourage them to sprout again, was applied and an organic sealant to prevent infection was also painted on.

As long as the bulbous stem of the cycad is not damaged, it will grow again once it is re-planted, says Port Elizabeth expert Martin Schwellnuss, who was consulted in the planning of the project.

All cycads are declared endangered in the Eastern Cape so possession and transport of them is regulated by permit. The permit was issued by the environment department and the last batch of the precious cargo was delivered to Thomas Baines, which is managed by the East Cape Parks’ Board.

SANParks has not called for any payment from the board for the cycads because they have no use for alien species, and the project is seen as an excellent example of “partnering for conservation”.