Cape Town - Newlands residents have welcomed the removal of six boxelder trees that have become infested with invasive polyphagous shot hole borer beetles.
The 2mm pests, native to Southeast Asia, have left tiny holes in the older trees on Kildare Circle, with the trees’ removal set for May 20.
Qualified landscape architect and Newlands Ratepayers Association member Clare Burgess said they were concerned that the beetle had spread to the southern suburbs.
“We are going to see major tree losses, and that is worrying and really sad. It’s going to change our streets and our gardens’ look and how we use them and how we are not going to have them around and that is going to impact our environment greatly. “We are very concerned.
“I think that the six trees that are going to be removed in Kildare Circle are just the start of a process that is going to have to happen over the next, probably, 10 years.
“There are some trees which will remain around the circle at this stage.”
She said the reason the boxelders will be removed first is that they were most infested.
“They are super-spreaders and very susceptible to the infection. They seem to get it quickly and other trees around them start to succumb to the beetle and the fungus. It makes sense to remove the trees now. It is quite clear that they’re not well and they have the beetle badly infecting them.
“There are two schools of thought on this: you wait for the trees to get infected and then you remove them, or you take a precautionary start, and maybe remove the trees which are likely to be infected, you remove them before they get infected.”
Burgess said it was cheaper to remove the trees before the infection worsened.
Ward councillor in Newlands, Mikhail Manuel, said the beetles bore into the trees and then leave a fungus inside.
“It multiplies itself and then feeds on that fungus, which is poison for the tree.
“The big risk is that big branches start falling when there is a storm.
“The first time that this beetle was seen in Newlands was in Kildare Road in January 2023, and we tried to slow down the spread as much as possible. And they were found in Constantia as well.
“These six trees are the main hubs. The quicker we can stop it the more trees we can save.
“We plan on cutting down the six on May 20; it will be an eight-day project. After that we will begin the process of solarisation, to disinfect the soil, and then we will replant.”
Burgess said replanting will bring positive energy to the area.
“Replanting is what we have to focus on after the removal of these boxelders.”
The City has recorded infested in Newlands, Kenilworth, Mowbray, Rondebosch, Observatory, Wynberg and Somerset West.
To report polyphagous shot hole borer beetles sightings, visit www. capetown.gov.za/InvasiveSpecies or call the City of Cape Town’s Invasive Species Unit at 021 444 2357, Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 4pm.
Cape Argus