Invasive Non-Native Species
Help is on the way in our fight against Invasive Non-Native Species such as Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam, Giant Hogweed. Bev Lewis is running a project for the BBNPA over the next 2 years looking at surveying & controlling INNS and working out how they can be managed in the future.
Read on for more information…..
The Brecon Beacons National Park Authority’s Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) project runs from 1st April 2018 until January 2020 with the purpose of running a pilot project for surveying and controlling invasive non-native species in the Usk and Tawe catchments, working with other projects and organisations to develop an invasive species partnership approach and looking at how INNS can be managed long term in the future.
The three main species that they are looking at how best to work with people to control are Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam and Giant Hogweed.
The catchments for both the Tawe and the Usk Rivers arise within the National Park. Given the invasive nature of these plants and their ability to spread easily along water courses, it is important that BBNPA work with people and partners in the area to tackle these plants from the top of the catchment downwards in a systematic way. To do this they need a good baseline data set to try and build up an accurate picture of the scale of the work needed in the Tawe and Usk catchments – not just of the species records, but also of areas that have been treated and how and with what success.
To do this BBNPA need your help. Do you have recent records for these three species? Have you cleared any of these species from our rivers? BBNPA are particularly interested in records in the headwaters and early reaches of the rivers since they will be working on a source-to-sea approach of clearing infested areas.
BBNPA will also be running volunteer work groups to tackle clearing these species, keep an eye out for these dates in the future!
For more information on the project please contact Beverley Lewis on 07854997508 or e-mail [email protected]