The southern blue gum tree, commonly referred to as Eucalyptus, is a species of evergreen trees that are native to southeastern Australia and have been introduced to many parts of the world over, with Mozambique being no exception. The invasive blue gums that are visible in Maputo National Park were originally planted in the late 1900s when the section seen in the video above formed part of community land, outside of the reserve.
In 2011, when the Futi Corridor was established between Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa and Maputo Special Reserve (as it was known at the time), this blue gum plantation comprising roughly 800 hectares, was included in the reserve. Although there have been continued efforts to eradicate the species over the last few years, its rapid growth rate meant that the removal of the trees is an ongoing part of conservation efforts in Maputo National Park.
So, are blue gums really that bad? Although this topic causes a lot of contention and debate within the scientific community, there is good reason behind these trees being labelled as an alien invasive species. Due to growing faster and higher than the natural vegetation, an unwanted canopy cover is created which limits the most important source of food available to the indigenous plant species below, sunlight.
Blue gums are also known to be water guzzlers and when water is readily available, they consume a lot more than other plants – so much so, that communities often plant blue gum trees in areas where the soil is saturated. The trees will absorb as much of the water as possible, drying up the ground and leaving favourable soil conditions for planting crops.
Although one of the world’s most beloved marsupials, the koala bear, loves to feed off the Eucalyptus’ leaves, these trees are not particularly palatable to many other species. The essential oils contained within the leaves make them hard to digest so outside of where koala naturally occur, blue gum is not a favourite on the menu.
Peace Parks’ Brian Neubert works with teams from the local community to remove the blue gums to improve the soil quality and promote the regeneration of indigenous vegetation. This will assist in restoring the landscape back to its former natural beauty. As shown in the video, the areas that have already been cleared of blue gum trees over the last six or seven years, have started to show great progress as the indigenous vegetation begins to revive itself.
Supported by Fundo Ambiental do Ministério do Ambiente e Ação Climática de Portugal, this project is not only improving the ecosystem, but the timber collected is distributed to the surrounding communities or used for infrastructure development in the park.
Keep watching Peace Parks TV to see how this landscape will continue to transform itself over the next few years!
