Massachusetts officials may ban hardy kiwi
“What it does is it climbs up mature trees, and then in the winter as it freezes, it pulls them down,” Jane Wynn of the Berkshires Environmental Action Team said. “And then the next year, it springs out and goes up the next set of mature trees, creating an amphitheater of hardy kiwi.”
Photo from twitter user @carlwbz of hardy-kiwi vine.
Other states are dealing with the same effects of the plant, like New Jersey, Connecticut, and Vermont. At the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife headquarters in Westboro Tuesday, officials gave statements on whether they thought the fruit should be banned or not.
“It is taking over parts of our forests,” said Wynn. “We’ve got places where the kiwi is covering acres and acres, and there is nothing else growing in there, other than hardy kiwi. It blocks out all the light so there is no understory, and it’s pulling down all these trees. It’s absolutely devastating.”
Others disagree, like Jonathan Bates, a Holyoke biologist, who testified, supporting the fruit for its nutritional effects.
“Many other stakeholders need to be involved in this decision beyond today’s hearing, like farmers, consumers, university professionals,” Bates said. “It would have been great to bring my son here today, he’s four, he loves kiwi berry.”
source: boston.cbslocal.com
