Biological Control
latest news & developments
A 50-year seed bank and tiny hoppers: Hartbeespoort’s water hyacinth battle
Tiny biocontrol insects, released by the Centre for Biological Control, are preventing flowering and suppressing growth — a long-term solution to South Africa’s most problematic…
Tiny bugs winning the fight against invasive water hyacinth in Hartbeespoort Dam
Without biocontrol, Hartbeespoort Dam could be 70% covered in superweed
Invasive weeds cleared from Vaal River through community-government collaboration
This was achieved through a partnership involving the Vaal community, Rand Water, Rhodes University’s Centre for Biological Control, the water and sanitation department and the…
Powerful insect army reduces water hyacinth on Hartbeespoort Dam to 2.5%
The tiny planthoppers are biological control agents and natural enemies of the world’s worst aquatic weed
Vaal River residents say water lettuce is ‘national crisis’
If allowed to pass the Vaal River Barrage, the plant has access to a journey of about 1 000km of the middle and lower Vaal river, the Bloemhof Dam and then into the Orange river
Tiny bugs reduce water hyacinth on Hartbeespoort Dam to 5%
Biological control is effective but the real solution would be to fix wastewater treatment plants in Joburg and Pretoria and stop sewage spills