Stakeholder perceptions of ornamental invasive plants in Southern Africa—improving understanding for management

Abstract

Successful management of invasive plants often requires broad societal buy-in. Hence, to facilitate management, it is important to understand what influences and drives perceptions of those involved or affected by invasive plants’ distribution, management, and impacts. In this paper, we focus on a sector central to this space—the ornamental industry—and on a geographic region that is highly affected by plant invasions but remains under-researched-Southern Africa. Using various techniques (semi-structured interviews, workshops, informal conversations, and questionnaires), we assessed key stakeholders' understanding of plant invasions and perceptions of invasive ornamental plants, collating data from 78 environmental specialists, 38 ornamental industry staff, and 72 ornamental gardeners. This data collection included participants from Botswana (104), Namibia (50), Zimbabwe (18), South Africa (13), and Zambia (3). We found that, across these groups, there is a broadly similar understanding of invasions consistent with definitions used in research and policymaking. People are often aware of ecological processes but do not necessarily use “scientific” terms to describe them. However, both the different groups and individuals within the groups differed in how they perceived specific plants. We argue that these differences are shaped by people’s interests, professions, and socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds, that are, in turn, shaped by broader socio-ecological and geopolitical dynamics. Such differences in perceptions can, of course, result in conflicts of interest, particularly when varying perceptions are informing conflicting actions. We believe that stakeholder relations would benefit from open, relational, balanced, and regular communication with a view to reaching agreements. Such communication should value and recognise the diversity in capacities, perceptions and knowledge as a step to removing power imbalances. This is particularly relevant in the Southern Africa context where successful invasive species management requires acknowledging and addressing racial and classist segregation that shape mutual perceptions and relations with invasive plants and landscapes.