Cape Town is struggling with a dangerous pine invasion

Although people in Hungary tend to associate pine trees with Christmas (especially in the middle of autumn), there are places on Earth where these beautiful evergreens have become synonymous with environmental damage. This is the case in Cape Town, South Africa, where pines are to blame for sucking up water that local species need.

Pines are not native to South Africa. They first appeared in the 17th century, when they were introduced by European settlers from the old continent. They are still useful today: they account for a significant amount of the country's timber production, so they cannot and should not be completely eradicated. At the same time, closed cultivation could be a solution, but this is made more difficult by the fact that their tiny seeds are easily carried by the wind and thus, pines are appearing in more and more places.

As these trees can absorb up to 20 percent more water than native tree species, they endanger many local plants that would provide shelter for native animals. The animals under threat include the Rough Moss frog (Arthroleptella rugosa), which was discovered in 2008, native only in the Swartberg Mountains - and which has disappeared in all the pine-covered areas. Researchers fear that if they do not remove this carpet of pine trees, these frogs will soon become extinct.

Cape Town plans to prevent the total collapse of the ecosystem by destroying 54,000 hectares of pine forest by 2025, saving 55 billion litres of water annually - enough to supply Cape Town for two months. The idea might sound crazy, but in order to speed up the process, they are even considering utilising controlled forest fires and the propagation of pests - the latter method is primarily intended to prevent the further spread of trees.

Until then, the hard, physical work remains: these trees can often only be accessed by environmentalists in helicopters, who cut down the trees in climbing gear with a hand saw. A recent additional aspect of the struggle is that in 2018, there was a shortage of water in Cape Town, so the invasion of evergreens and the amount of water they absorb, is not only bad for the environment, the flora and fauna, but also for local residents.

Cape Town is not the only place in the world where species introduced by humans caused ecological disasters centuries later. Environmentalists in Australia are waging a desperate war against toads introduced to counter pests.

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