Productivity sampling of teams involved in clearing alien vegetation in the Table Mountain National Park

Project Type:
Productivity sampling

Client:
SANParks: Table Mountain National Park

Consultants:
Apex Conservation Services

Location:
Cape Town, Western Cape

Year:
2025

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Productivity sampling of teams involved in clearing alien vegetation in the Table Mountain National Park

1. Rachel monitoring at Newlands in Table Mountain National Park

Productivity sampling of teams involved in clearing alien vegetation in the Table Mountain National Park

2. The clearing teams and our monitoring team during the productivity sampling

Invasive Alien Species Monitoring, Control and Eradication Plans for SANRAL properties, firebreaks and road reserves
Invasive Alien Species Monitoring, Control and Eradication Plans for SANRAL properties, firebreaks and road reserves

Summary:

The French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement) funded a strategic learning exchange between the leaders of Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) and Reunion Island National Park (RINP). As part of this programme, Apex was appointed by South African National Parks (SANParks) to undertake a productivity sampling of teams involved in clearing invasive alien vegetation in TMNP.

Four sampling methods were used to collect data:

  1. Detailed Work Method Measurement: detailed recording of the time it takes to utilize a specific clearing method on a particular alien species of a recorded size class.
  2. Activity Sampling – Worker: recording the activity being undertaken by one working member of the clearing team every 30 seconds over a ten-minute interval.
  3. Area Based Productivity Sampling: measuring the time it takes to clear an area, where the invasive alien plant density and size class have been quantified before clearing work starts.
  4. Activity Sampling – Team: recording all the major activities in which the majority of the clearing team was involved over the full duration of the day.

Productivity sampling was undertaken across TMNP in the Northern, Central and Southern Management areas. SANParks clearing teams, funded through the government Working for Water (WfW) programme, as well as Sugarbird teams, funded and implemented by the community surrounding the park, were monitored by Apex. A total of 13 SANParks teams and 5 Sugarbird teams were monitored across a total of 30 sites in TMNP. The Apex team spent a collective 200 person days on site monitoring these invasive vegetation clearing teams. Over 92 000 records were collected and captured during the project.

Apex also compiled a feedback report, providing a summary of the data collected, as well as observations made by the Apex team during the implementation of this project. The report highlighted operational and environmental factors which impacted the productivity of teams, the challenges teams faced, and opportunities which have been created through these clearing programmes. The report also outlined recommendations to ensure that teams are productive and safe on site.

The data collected during this project will help TMNP management understand how time is being allocated to different activities and what the investment into actual clearing is. It will help quantify how long these clearing treatments take to implement IAP treatments on various species of different age classes. The findings from this project will be used to support the refinement of work methods and norms and standards, which will support a better understanding and therefore more informed management of invasive alien plants within TMNP and RINP.