The Pingtung Forest District Office is to hold a series of eight events offering residents a cash bounty to help remove an invasive plant nicknamed “mile-a-minute vine” and “green cancer” because of its rampant growth.
Mikania micrantha thrives in humid, sunny climates, and is commonly found in orchards, fallow fields and on mountainsides at elevations below 1,000m, the forestry office said in a news release.
Listed among the world’s 100 most invasive species, the vines grow densely on native plants and trees, smothering them by blocking their access to sunlight, the office said.
Photo courtesy of the Pingtung Forest District Office via CNA
The vines are extremely hard to eradicate, as even small branches that fall to the ground can grow into new plants, it said.
To control their spread before its blossoming season starts in winter, the office is to pay residents NT$5 per 1kg of M. micrantha that they bring in from the wild during the eight events, it said.
The “vines for cash” events are to be held at the township offices in Majhou Township (滿州) on Wednesday and in Mudan Township (牡丹) on July 27, in Laiyi Township’s (來義) Gulou Village (古樓) on Aug. 5, and at the Jian Gong Community Activity Center in Shinpi Township (新埤) on Aug. 8, the office said.
The serious would continue in Kaohsiung — at Jingyi Elementary School in Neimen District (內門) on Aug. 9, at the Yuanfu Neighborhood Community Development Association in Qishan District (旗山) on Aug. 11, at the Chung Hsing Neighborhood Activity Center in Liugui District (六龜) on Aug. 15 and at the Long Hsing Neighborhood Office Aug. 22, it said.
Cash bounties would also be paid year round at the Forestry Bureau offices in Qishan and Liugui, as well as the offices in Pingtung County’s Chaochou (潮州) and Hengchun (恆春) townships every Tuesday and Thursday, the office said.
Additional information on the events can be found on the Pingtung Forestry District Office’s Facebook page.
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