Invasive alien trees that have spread through large parts of our country consume more than 2.9% of available water resources. In some catchments, water losses are higher than 25%. These losses contribute to biodiversity loss by crowding out indigenous species, devastating surrounding ecosystem.

Unsustainable land use practices pose a major threat to ecosystems and the livelihood of local communities. It damages flood plains, river banks and wetlands, reducing the regulating capacity of catchments and increasing erosion and sediment loads. This raises the risk of flooding.

Forestry plantations are grown to provide wood for construction and raw materials for the paper and pulp industry, creating a large number of jobs in these value chains that contributes significantly to South Africa's economy.

However, plantations are made up of exotic tree species (pine, eucalyptus and wattle) that generally use more water than the surrounding natural vegetation, and have the potential to spread invasively. Therefore if not managed responsibly, plantations can have a number of environmental impacts, such as reducing steam flow, and potentially spreading invasively outside of the plantation areas.

80% of the plantations in South Africa's are certified by the FSC or PEFC international forestry standards, which significantly reduces this risk in many areas of the country.

Fires are a part of the natural lifecycle of the Fynbos, savannah and grasslands but a higher frequency of fires doesn't allow enough time for natural ecosystems to recover. The impact is exacerbated by the presence of invasive alien trees that burn hotter and longer, causing greater damage to property and the environment. Higher intensity and frequency of fires means that precious soil is eroded and more easily washed away.