Cape trees under threat from a beetle infestation

The City of Cape Town reported an invasive Polyphagous Shot Hole Borer beetle (PSHB) that has been spreading steadily within less than a month.

The city said that the latest infestations was confirmed in Observatory along the Liesbeek River, and Kenilworth. 128 sightings of this pest have been reported in the Southern suburbs.

The beetle was discovered outside of the Somerset West area for the first time on 24 January 2023 with the sighting of an infested Boxelder tree on a private property along Kildare Road in Newlands. Since then, more sightings have been reported in Newlands, Rondebosch, Mowbray, Claremont, and also along the Liesbeek River corridor.

'This is extremely alarming and confirms our worst fear: that the pest is spreading and that we will probably discover more sightings in more areas as the weeks go by. By 21 February 2023, we have recorded a total number of 128 infested trees.

The City's Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews said that the PSHB is a serious threat to Cape Town's urban forest as infested trees have to be chipped.

All trees on private properties to those along roads, on verges, in parks and at wine farms are under threat.

“ I want to urge private property owners, and wine farm owners in particular, to be on high alert as infestations of oak trees have been confirmed at wine farms outside of the City's boundaries.

'This is a very small beetle, but the potential damage is at scale’, said Andrews.

by Everngelista Muza