City invites residents to online Borer beetle info session
09 October 2024
The City of Cape Town is inviting all residents to an online information session on the invasive Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer beetle (PSHB) on Thursday, 10 October 2024, from 18:30 until 20:30.
Between June 2023 and June 2024 a total of 938 infested trees were removed from properties owned by the City of Cape Town. The PSHB poses a serious threat to Cape Town’s urban forest as infested trees have to be chipped. To date, infested trees have been recorded in Alphen,Constantia, Penhill, Newlands, Rondebosch, Mowbray, Claremont, Kenilworth, and Observatory along the Liesbeek River, as well as in the Helderberg area. We encourage the public to attend and learn about how to identify if a tree has been infested by this borer beetle.
The webinar will be hosted by the City's Invasive Species Unit.
Meeting details:
- Thursday, 10 October 2024, from 18:30 to 20:30
- Residents can join the webinar via the following link:
Join the meeting now (Meeting ID: 327 290 598 663 and Passcode: b2zAQB).
The trees affected include Boxelders, London Planes, English Oaks, Beef Wood, Weeping Willow, Cape Chestnut, Black Locust, Paperbark and Maples.
'The PSHB beetle can easily spread across suburbs if extra precaution is not taken. The intention is to educate the public on how to identify infested trees, manage and transport beetle infested biomass to prevent the spread of the pest as far as possible. The webinar will be hosted online and in the evening to accommodate as many residents as possible. Importantly, the use of pesticides and fungicides have not proven effective at eradicating PSHB from infected trees. We need the support and collaboration of residents and businesses working with plant material. I encourage residents and businesses to attend this online information session.
'A few months ago a Boxelder tree infested with PSHB was discovered in Alphen, Constantia, which was of great concern to the City. We are therefore also asking that residents also assist by reporting any Boxelder trees as they come across them, which will help the team assess the extent of possible infestation in certain areas,' said Alderman Andrews.
The City will be sharing the following information during the webinar:
- How to identify infested trees and what symptoms to look out for
- What to do next, what not to do
- How to handle infested biomass
- How to safely dispose of infested biomass
- How to transport green waste
- How to handle equipment and machinery in a manner that will not spread the pest to other areas
How to report PSHB beetle sightings
End
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
