Atlas of alien plants
Several species of alien plants in Namibia pose a threat to the natural vegetation. Mapping these species and obtaining basic information on them is a first step in assessing the level of threat and how best to tackle the problem.
If you are not sure of the identification of a plant species, take photos and a specimen and ask advice from the National Herbarium of Namibia. Read their guidelines on how to request an identification and submit a specimen. Enter the specimen reference number in the comments field of your atlasing record.
Take action
If you would like to get involved in removing alien cacti in the Windhoek area, note that the City of Windhoek division of solid waste management will on request remove every lorry load of extracted cacti piled up at accessible places next to a street. If you want a heap of cacti to be removed or a container to be supplied, Theckla Kangueehi from Solid Waste Management should be contacted at tec@windhoekcc.org.na or 061 290 3108 or 081 241 6399. Where cacti are removed, the position should be reported to the botanical society so that after some months they can root out whatever starts growing again from missed pieces, roots or seeds. The email address is nambotsoc@gmail.com. Please also contact Gunhild Voigts who has been spearheading the efforts to remove alien plants in Windhoek: gunhild.voigts@gmail.com or 081 208 5747 and find more information on the Cactus Clean-up website.
