Ezemvelo: No firewood allowed at reserves

With the holiday season kicking off, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife urges visitors to refrain from bringing firewood to reserves.
Ezemvelo said firewood may contain a tiny beetle that threatens indigenous trees and forests.

The organisation said the beetle, the Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer (PSHB), is about the size of a sesame seed, and is native to Southeast Asia.
It said it has recently started invading South Africa.

“The beetles create branching, breeding and feeding galleries in trees lined with a layer of spores of the co-introduced alien species of fungus they carry. This fungus, which they feed on, is left inside the tree’s circulatory system, which blocks nutrients and water from reaching parts of the tree and leads to branch dieback and the tree’s death. The beetles are spread mainly by the movement of wood from infested trees, most often in the form of firewood. The beetles have spread through this mechanism to numerous locations across the country.

No chemical products are registered for treatment against PSHB in South Africa, which makes this a serious threat to biodiversity and food security,” said Ezemvelo.

Ezemvelo acting CEO Sihle Mkhize said after much consideration of the high risk that this alien beetle and the fungus it carries poses to biodiversity in their reserves, and the main means of their spread being through firewood, Ezemvelo has decided to implement a ban on visitors bringing firewood into any of their reserves.

Mkhize said visitors can still purchase firewood from their curio shops that have been safely sourced from PSHB-free areas.
“We urge visitors to use charcoal, which can be brought into our reserves, and stop bringing firewood or buy firewood from resort curio shops if necessary,” said Mkhize adding, that they will continue working with nearby communities to ensure that the wood they sell is PSHB free.

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