A once forgotten situation rears its ugly head…

While travelling the country having looked at thousands of sites with Japanese Knotweed issues, over the last 6.5 years I have seen the construction industry improve dramatically in regard to dealing with this non-native invasive species. Most competent construction contractors are able to identify the plant and know what to do when they come across

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School in America does weed-a-thon

On September 30th, The Kimberley Independent School students (pre-K to Grade 8) spent a fun-filled afternoon battling invasive plants in their second annual WEED-A-THON fund-raiser. The students concentrated their efforts on the rails to trails which runs along behind their school an area that they frequent during their Outdoor Education activities. The school is working

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Bug release helps boaters

A colony of beetles are being released into the wild to ensure a river remains navigable to boats. Azolla filiculoides, better known as the water or fairy fern, doubles in size every four or five days and has rampantly spread over Lincolnshire’s River Witham and its tributary, the River Till. To ensure boaters can still

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Fears revamp of park may be rushed

Concerns have been raised that £250,000 improvements to a Worcester park are being rushed through. The leader of the city council has denied a deadline to finish the impending work at Fort Royal Park by the end of March has been set in a bid to attract votes ahead of the local elections. A new

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Co-op burial site to become bee meadow

Five acres of new grassland and wildflower meadow are being created in Eastham, Wirral by the Co-operative Funeralcare to boost the UK’s dwindling bee population. Based at the Co-operative Funeralcare’s woodland burial ground, Mayfields Woodland Remembrance Park, a mixture of wet grassland and wildflowers will be developed to provide new habitats for pollinators. The project

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Help plea to tackle Japanese Knotweed in Camarthenshire

Japanese Knotweed is such a big problem in Carmarthenshire that Welsh Government help is needed to tackle it, council chiefs have said. The weed is beginning to have an economic as well as an environmental impact, according to a report prepared for Carmarthenshire Council’s executive board. In the report, Phil Snaith, chairman of a group

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Anglesey gets to grips with pink invader

An Anglesey partnership is succeeding in its efforts to stop an invasive plant damaging Welsh wildlife. The non native Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) has already spread to many Anglesey river banks and can often be seen standing up to two metres tall, displaying prominent pink flowers. It is an annual plant that rapidly spreads along

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Portland in peril gets cash to prevent invasive species

A project to stop rare wildlife being destroyed by invasive plant species has been launched in Dorset. Dorset Wildlife Trust has been given £850,000 for its Portland in Peril scheme to tackle the spread of species such as cotoneaster and giant buddleja. The plants crowd out habitat used by butterflies like the common blue, adonis

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New year, new start!

It’s that time of year again…. The gyms are full, everyone has bought a pair of new trainers and people are cutting their alcohol intake… how long will these New Year’s resolution’s last… I’ll give them 2 weeks! How about a resolution we can all keep… Help the United Kingdom get rid of its Japanese

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Invasive beauty to be tackled by alien rust fungus

Northland biosecurity experts have asked the Environmental Protection Authority for permission to import and release two species of host-specific fungi to tackle one of the world’s most invasive weeds. Lantana camara is a serious problem in Northland, where it forms dense thickets that invade a wide variety of areas from native and exotic forests to

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