Mondi faces action for alleged negligent alien-control practices

At the Grassland Society of Southern Africa symposium, held in Bishopstowe outside Pietermaritzburg on 17 April, farmer Iain Buchan announced his intention to sue the international paper and packaging maker Mondi for about R1,5 million. Buchan, who in January 2005 purchased 180ha of grassland and indigenous bush above the N3 near Mooi River, is dissatisfied with Mondi’s failure to complete the rehabilitation of old timber land on his newly acquired farm. “I have decided to take a stand against Mondi from an ethical point of view,” said Buchan. “Mondi intends to walk away from my farm and leave me with the problem and costs associated with eradicating invasive aliens and rehabilitating the land.” Buchan said that while Mondi had built roads and rehabilitated the old timber lands to a certain extent, they had paid insufficient attention to invasive alien control. “There were clumps of bugweed with trunks as thick as my legs,” said Buchan. “American bramble has been sprayed and slashed, but not removed and there are clumps of it 10m x 10m wide growing alongside indigenous bush. “Mondi has cut down 500 trees or 1 000t of timber and left the logs in huge piles on the land. Nothing will grow there again in the medium term.” Buchan said that a lack of invasive alien control had given the invaders an opportunity to build up a seedbank in the soil. “Mondi didn’t follow up on their spraying programmes and it will take five to six years of intensive work to get the seedbed back to a manageable level,” he added. “Mondi denies a seedbank exists and intends to walk away at the end of their lease.” Buchan said he hoped to get a ruling from the courts that would properly prescribe the process that timber companies must follow when rehabilitating old timber lands. Mondi Forestry manager Keith Paterson declined to comment. – Robyn Joubert