Weed Munching Weevel Saves Okavango

Monday, September 05, 2016

Three decades after the first reports of the arrival in Botswana of Salvinia molesta–a pestilential free-floating, mat-forming water fern native to Brazil–scientists from the southern African country’s Department of Water Affairs say they are at last prevailing in the struggle against the weed.

Salvinia had come too close to threatening the entire Okavango, Africa’s largest wetlands and a UNESCO World Heritage site — and sanctuary for some of the world’s most endangered species.

Their most potent weapon was not an aerial bombardment of Roundup. Instead, the scientists called on a titanic force of nature: a minuscule weevil with an outsize appetite.

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