Through the Working for Water Programme, the South African government has been clearing plots of Prosopis and other invasive plants since 1995. Some farmers started with management even before 1995 and some still haven’t started with management. Several factors affect the ability of the landowner to manage the invasion, with the main factor being funding. It is extremely expensive to manage Prosopis and often, especially in very dense stands, the cost of management outweighs the cost of the land per hectare.

Jano Barnard investigates the effect of the management of the invasive Prosopis tree on its abundance as part of his MSc research project with the Centre for Invasion Biology at Stellenbosch University. The study is conducted in the low-lying area between the small towns of Carnarvon and Vanwyksvlei in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Prosopis heavily invaded this area in the past 100 or more years and the management of Prosopis only recently became a priority for both private landowners and the government.

Jano shows Prosopis in the landscape where is conducting his MSc reasearch in the video above.

Trend analysis of a time-series of satellite imagery is used to highlight episodes of Prosopis clearing and regrowth. Comparing these with neighbouring unmanaged sites can increase the chance of correct identifications of clearing and regrowth. Through this research, Jano aims to evaluate what types of management are effective for the long-term reduction of Prosopis abundance on several privately and government-managed sites.