From the 6 to 12 October 2008, thousands of people from a broad spectrum will be adhering to Working for Water’s call of highlighting the importance around the planting of indigenous plants by following the call of Plant Me Instead.

The National Weedbuster week is an annual culmination of the ongoing campaign aimed at the management and containment of Invasive Alien Plants (IAPs). The campaign is a multi-departmental initiative led by the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry through the Working for Water (WfW) programme, and supported by various partners and stakeholders. The aim of the national Weed Buster Week campaign is to consolidate awareness, support and ownership of the ongoing effort in order to ensure that IAP control initiatives in South Africa are effective and sustainable.

A number of events will be taking place during the week with Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry Mrs. Lindiwe Hendricks attending an event in each region to draw awareness to the events. The launch of Weedbuster Week will take place on the 7th of October 2008 in Witfontein Nature Reserve, George Municipality in the Western Cape.

Other events on the calendar include the Ministerial Launch for Working for Water in the Free State, which will be held in Jacobsdal on 10th of October 2008. This event will also be a follow up on the initiative started by the launching of War on Poverty in August by the Deputy President and the establishment of the poverty alleviation forum for implementation of the Free State Poverty alleviation Strategy.

The core message to be communicated during Weedbuster 2008 is “Plant me instead” through the management of Invasive Alien Plants. Invasive species are causing billions of Rands of damage to South Africa’s economy every year, and are the single biggest threat to the country’s biological biodiversity.

This year’s campaign will highlight the impact on our natural resources which included water resources, productive land, the impact of fire on the environment etc. The campaign will again target private landowners to ensure a sustained effort to plant or replace invasive with indigenous species. The 2008 theme is built on the public awareness and support already generated by the campaign in 2006 and 2007. The 2008 WeedBuster Week runs from 6 to 12 October.

For more information concerning events and program please see the relevant links on this website. Alternately call our Toll Free Hotline on 0800 005 376.