'Evil' black thorn meets its match: Part 1

This article looked at the scourge of bush encroachment by black thorn trees in Molopo, North West. The black thorn (Senegalia mellifera) has spearheaded bush encroachment in the Molopo area of North West for 30 years, hitting the area's beef farmers hard.

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But now, after invading over 25% of this four-million-hectare territory, the pest could be on the threshold of its Waterloo.

An enterprising veld-reclamation project, launched and directed by the [then] Molopo Soil Conservation Committee, is snowballing, and farmers are regaining black-thorn-conquered land, stocking capacity increasing by up to 50% as a result.

And with government recently agreeing to aid those who lack the funds to do battle, the Molopo region could, in time, be rejuvenated into the rancher's paradise that enticed settlers into its hot, semi-arid heart 30 years ago.

European settlements existed almost exclusively near surface-water areas (mostly dry riverbeds) before large-scale occupation of this ranching country intensified after the Second World War, when Molopo's average annual rainfall of 377mm and its predominant Kalahari sand supported vast grassy plains, scattered camel thorn (Vachellia erioloba) and mopane tree (Colophospermum mopane), and only isolated stands of shrubs and bush.