INVASION OF ALIEN PLANTS (SPREAD, JUNE 24, 2010)

THE Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), says 30 alien plants have found their way into the eco-system and are destroying the country’s biodiversity.
The alien species, according to the CSIR were replacing indigenous plants that were useful to the ecosystem at a very fast rate.
The council, which is spearheading a four-year project to remove barriers hindering the management of exotic plants, has, therefore, appealed to the security agencies and personnel of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) at the country's borders to be vigilant by preventing travellers from bringing alien species into the country.
The Minister of Environment, Science and Technology Ms Sherry Ayittey, who launched four booklets on exotic plants, said the alien plants were causing devastation to crops and forest lands in areas such as the River Afram Headwaters Forest Reserves.
Ms Ayittey whose speech was read on her behalf said these alien plant species were also causing irreparable damage to socio-economic development and posed as health hazards to the people in the areas they were found.
She, therefore, urged agencies such as the CSIR to team up with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to successfully implement the four year project to remove barriers for the management of the exotic plants.
Dr Abdulai Baba Salifu, Director-General of CSIR, who chaired the function, said some biological methods had been introduced by CSIR to control the weeds.
He said one of the methods was the introduction of some species of grasshoppers to feed on the leaves of the exotic plants.
He, however, said such biological control had its limits since the CSIR could not nurture a vast quantity of those grasshoppers to deal with the ever-spreading exotic weeds that were increasing in the country.
Dr Salifu appealed to the government to increase its component of funding the project to eliminate the alien plant species before they took over the ecosystem and destroyed the agricultural sector.
Some of the alien plants included Jatropha curcas (Adadze), Lantana camara (Ananse dokuno), Striga (Wumlim) Cecropia peltata (French Adwuma) Siam Weed (Acheapong).