Date Palm Eradication

[greysrigging]

Millstream National Park ( remote Pilbara region in Western Australia ) is actively attempting to remove feral Date Palms growing ( thriving ) around the springs and waterholes and the old Millstream Station homestead. These palms were planted by Afghan cameleers about 100 years ago.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-10/millstream-ngurrawanna/5584860

Some photos I took 5 years ago.

https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/millstream-chichester

[Hammer]

Too bad.  They look super cool.

[greysrigging]

2 minutes ago, Hammer said:

Too bad.  They look super cool.

Yes, not everyone is happy with the removal program. They are deemed 'culturally inappropriate' in this day and age. Mind you the Date Palm is a bit of a weed in the arid regions of WA......oftrn seen growing around old abandoned homesteads.

[DoomsDave]

4 minutes ago, greysrigging said:

Yes, not everyone is happy with the removal program. They are deemed 'culturally inappropriate' in this day and age. Mind you the Date Palm is a bit of a weed in the arid regions of WA......oftrn seen growing around old abandoned homesteads.

I think they look cool, too.

BUT I've removed most of the Phoenix I was growing in my garden. Those spines are murder on the large ones.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

59 minutes ago, greysrigging said:

Yes, not everyone is happy with the removal program. They are deemed 'culturally inappropriate' in this day and age. Mind you the Date Palm is a bit of a weed in the arid regions of WA......oftrn seen growing around old abandoned homesteads.

 

So, what exactly the hell is "Culturally inappropriate" in this day and age supposed to mean?   Seriously.   I'd love to hear that explanation.  I Can understand if they are invasive or something, and are posing a threat to native / indigenous flora/ fauna. But that reason?   What IS that?   Yes I read the article.  Perhaps maybe they might want to stick with just citing environmental factors, which are fully understandable.  This reminds of of the palms that were planted (windmills) in Milan. The only differences here is that they got the species right, and there are no "protests'.  Still,  dispense with the "cultural" reasons already and get on with the business of protecting native / indigenous flora/ fauna.  Politicizing plants does nothing but invite more disdain and scorn. 

[greysrigging]

Oh I guess I'm saying that some decisions  re management  of Parks are made for political reasons, and maybe in this case, once the management of this region was handed over to the traditional owners it was  then that the removal process began. Also some waterholes and camping grounds were closed to the public. 

These above views are my own of course and I may well be wrong....

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

2 minutes ago, greysrigging said:

Oh I guess I'm saying that some decisions  re management  of Parks are made for political reasons, and maybe in this case, once the management of this region was handed over to the traditional owners it was  then that the removal process began. Also some waterholes and camping grounds were closed to the public. 

These above views are my own of course and I may well be wrong....

I was not directing my comment at you, rather the article, it states what you said it did.  That is the issue I have with it.  Like I said, stick to science and other reasons like them being invasive.   There is no need for their political opinions nor commentary. (the article writers or even those undertaking this task). 

[PalmatierMeg]

If I remember right, someplace in eastern AU banned and promoted removal of coconut palms because they were't native, even though coconuts had grown there for generations. An example of "cultural issues"?

[fiji jim]

Phoenix dactylifera (date palm) has been planted at settlements throughout the arid zone, and it often persists after human habitation ceases, forming dense thickets by suckers and also growing from seed. At Millstream it is a serious weed, impeding water flow and displacing the native Millstream palm. It is also spreading at Lake Kununurra, where it is of considerable concern, and at various wetlands in the arid zone.

  Livistona alfredii is native to that area and its habitat is being over-run with these weeds.

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

44 minutes ago, PalmatierMeg said:

If I remember right, someplace in eastern AU banned and promoted removal of coconut palms because they were't native, even though coconuts had grown there for generations. An example of "cultural issues"?

No idea as far as that question.  WHy on earth would anyone or any place ever want to ban those?  Those are likely the most popular and beautiful "classic" tropical palm there is. Not to mention the food and such that one can get from it.    I can understand controlling something if it is an invasive species that is harming native / indigenous flora / fauna sure, but in an instance like that using coconuts, I think that control rather than eradication is far more prudent.  

[DCA_Palm_Fan]

2 minutes ago, fiji jim said:

Phoenix dactylifera (date palm) has been planted at settlements throughout the arid zone, and it often persists after human habitation ceases, forming dense thickets by suckers and also growing from seed. At Millstream it is a serious weed, impeding water flow and displacing the native Millstream palm. It is also spreading at Lake Kununurra, where it is of considerable concern, and at various wetlands in the arid zone.

  Livistona alfredii is native to that area and its habitat is being over-run with these weeds.

Right.  Fully understandable, so again, why not just state those reasons and forget about the "cultural " stuff. Just leave that out, no reason on this earth to even bring it up. I'ts like either the author of the article or, whoever was "quoted" as saying that was trying to make some kind of ugly political point by even mentioning that part. 

[Tyrone]

I very much doubt they would be blocking the waterways. Someone should heritage list those palms because at the end of the day, the afghan traders who planted them were part of the heritage of this country.

If they are so concerned about the survival of the Millstream palm, why arent they trying to grow that and propagate it more in the area??? Too hard probably, that means effort. Kings Park were doing it for a while, then they canned it, due to there new anti palm policies. Chainsawing a heap of trunks is easier than years of germinating and growing on of a rare palm.

Those date palms won't take over the landscape either. It much too dry away from Millstream for anything to survive. That's why at the end of the day the Millstream palm is at Millstream. It once carpeted the region extending down to at least North West Cape (there is one survivor there on a mountain). As the land dried out they all died.

[Tyrone]

They also said in that article that many culled date palms were removed and planted in Perth. I have never seen even one. What rubbish. Big Phoenix dactylifera would stand out from miles away in Perth and I knew the place well, looking for unusual palms everywhere. I never saw any transplanted Phoenix dactylifera. I worked in the palm nursery industry and I would have seen them bagged up etc. If that actually happened the palm nurseries would have been who they rang to offload them at a price. I never saw any.

[foxtail]

 

And... We the people, will continue destroying the world.

[NorthFlpalmguy]

It's better when they explain it's invasive and competing with native flora. We do the same thing here in Florida all the time.

[greysrigging]

4 hours ago, NorthFlpalmguy said:

It's better when they explain it's invasive and competing with native flora. We do the same thing here in Florida all the time.

And perfectly understandable.......control the suckers and seedlings. But this area also has a significant  historical and pioneering heritage ( as well as having a cultural heritage for the local Indigenous peoples ). I hope the grove is not bulldozed and gone forever.........

There is a similar site in far north west Queensland called Lawn Hill/Adel's Grove, natural waterholes and springs that were planted with hundreds of exotic tree species by an eccentric French botanist between the Wars. There are no proposals to clear this place, not the least because it is privately owned and it adjoins a national park and is not part of it.....Dare I say, if it was Park owned, those trees would be gone......

http://adelsgrove.com.au/