Restoring a wetland's ecosystem by transforming invasive species into biochar

With its 47,000 hectares, the Nuwejaars River Nature Reserve is heavily invaded by invasive alien plants. This poses a threat to its biodiversity. The project protected the reserve and made the endangered ecosystems more resilient to the impacts of climate change. To do so, a team of 14 people from disadvantaged communities removed the invasive alien trees, gaining income from this activity. The project started with a mapping of infested areas and assessing densities of invasive trees. Afterwards trees were cut, and biomass was prepared for commercial use by P&B Lime Works in Bredasdorp. This mine is in the process of converting its coal-fired furnaces into a synthetic gas-powered system. The alien biomass woodchips are used as fuel, after retrofitting the factory. It is the first time a mine in South Africa makes use of this technology. The project was designed to provide 100 tons of alien biomass wood chips per year, which largely contributes to biodiversity conservation.