Brutal Invasions of India
If you've had a chance to visit any major national park in India in the last few years, you might agree that the most brutal invasion of India is underway: that by Lantana and several other introduced invasives! Several factors have led to this unchecked proliferation of these weeds, including deforestation and climate change. While many methods to manage the issue (periodic manual removal, burning, rotation and promoting alternative uses of lantana by forest dwelling communities) are underway, it remains to be ascertained which of them will be viable.
Cartoon for The Hindu Sunday Magazine.Â
I actually taught a course on invasive species management in Kerala 10 years ago, and while I was there I got to see some of the invasions in the region. There's definitely some bad ones, lantana certainly among them. It has a hold in New Zealand too, and is likely to get worse here under climate change.