简介：Background:Prosopisspecieshavebeenintroducedtomanyareasoutsidetheirnativerangetoprovidebenefitstolocalcommunities.SeveralProsopisspeciesandtheirhybrids(hereafter"mesquite")have,however,becomenaturalisedandinvasiveandnowgeneratesubstantialcosts.Managementoptionsarelimitedbecauseofthecomplexconflictsofinterestregardingbenefitsandcosts.Managementpoliciesandstrategiesmusttakeaccountofsuchconflicts,butfurtherinsightsareneededonthedimensionsofusesandimpactsbeforesuchinformationcanbeusefullyapplied.CurrentpolicyinSouthAfricaallowsforthegrowthanduseofmesquiteinoneprovince,butnotinotherswhereitscontrolismandatory.Wereportonastudytoquantifythedirectuseandperceptionsofnon-timberforestproducts(NTFPs)frommesquiteandnativetreesinSouthAfrica.Methods:Semi-structureshouseholdinterviewswereconductedwithvariousstakeholdergroupstoidentifywhattreeproductsareused,toascertainamountsusedaswellastogaugeperceptionsofnaturalresourceusebetweendifferenttreespeciesanduseovertime.Results:Thedirecthouseholdusevalueofnativetreeswashigherthanthatofmesquite,andlocalstakeholdersattachedgreatervaluetoproductsfromnativetreesthanfrommesquite.Therefore,nativetreesareandwillstillbepreferentiallyharvested,andmesquiteisunlikelytoofferprotectiontonativespeciesbyprovidinganalternativesourceofproducts.Mesquitepodsdo,however,providevaluableadditionalresources(fodderandmedicinalproducts).Theuseofbothnativetreesandmesquiteisdecreasingastheincomesofpoorerhouseholdsriseandasalternativeenergysourcesbecomeavailable.Thebenefitsandrelianceonmesquitearenotashighaspreviouslyassumedandtheimpactsfrommesquiteinvasionscreatelargeproblemsforlocalcommunities.Conclusion:Thisstudyprovidesfurtherevidencethattheimpactsofmesquiteexceedthebenefits,lendingsupportforapolicytoreducenegat