In Kruger National Park, pine trees had began to grow along the side of the Lower Sabie River and had begun to displace the indigenous acacia trees. The Working for Water program hired off duty game guards and women from the local staff village. The project used a variety of manual labor techniques and used biocides to remove the pine trees from the edge of the river. At the end of the project, the stand of pine trees was completely removed and local flora was planted in its place.
Sources:
Phillip Mhlava personal communication
The goals of the project were to remove the invasive stand of pines from the riverbed so that they would no longer displace the native species of plants. The secondary goal of the project was to employ the game guards that only get seasonal duty and to get women from the staff village to come and learn about plant identification. Both of these goals are extremely important in rural South Africa because it has the highest unemployment rate and for women it is extremely high. For women to learn about plant identification, it opens the door to be able to do research in the park or to become a ranger in the park, both of which are usually dominated by men. The project also gave the women a chance to earn surplus revenue for the household and for the men it allowed them to have a job when tourism is a little slower in Kruger National Park.
Sources:
Phillip Mhlava personal communication