An INNS control action plan is needed NOW not 2025!
From "Alive with Nature"
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Reply to 'Alive with Nature' draft plan and consultation 2021.
Jim Thomson statement– “our natural environment is an everyday joy”
Ailsa replies: I reply to this as my natural environment is an everyday stress and my mental health walks are interrupted by hours and hours of pulling up Himalayan Balsam, a thankless task for someone to do on their own. I can’t believe that the approach has been, so far, to allow it to spread rather than tackle it on land that is managed by the council. It is in full view for everyone to see in areas that get regular council maintenance (such as mowing). This is why I comment on the draft plan below.
“To encourage biodiversity”. The clear vision is to transform the natural environment so that it can be enjoyed.
Ailsa comments: Creation of wildflower meadows in urban parks is all very well except invasive plants will thrive and out-compete any native wildflowers and so the money and time spent will be wasted. Sort out the invasive species first then plant you native wildflowers and trees. Planting the wildflower meadows will not halt biodiversity loss, invasive species will and so they need tackled first.
Ailsa comments: There is no mention in the Alive with Nature - Consultation Draft.pdf of the VISION to encourage biodiversity (p.g 7) only in the challenges (p.g 10). It is mentioned, and this is the major issue, pg. 18 under “research and development for 2025”.
Ailsa stresses: A single Himalayan Balsam plant from 2021 may have multiplied to 500 million in 2024 (based on the potential of 800 seeds per-plant) by the time the research begins in 2025, so ACTION is needed now.
Ailsa recommends: Why is this not under Biodiversity (page 17) for action in 2022? Why not include it in the land management ACTION for action in 2022 under: “Deliver changes to land management, include grass and verge maintenance, tree planting and use of pesticides, in line with Stirling’s Pollinator Strategy”
Ailsa considers the 2025 objectives far too late, “Work with partners and volunteers to map the locations of invasive non-native species across the Stirling Council area and develop an INNS control action plan”.
Himalayan Balsam outcompetes the native species, and makes river banks unstable. There are instances where land has been lost into burns, streams and rivers where the roots from native plants no longer exist to hold the land together. To stop this erosion and to stop the possibility of loosing all the new native plants that the council plan to encourage, SLC need to consider eradicating the INNS first, or they may end up having to undo the work (time, effort and money spent). The new plants may be washed away in the rivers, outcompeted or end up being removed (by burning, pulling, or with weed-killers) in the near future when the 2025 plan to “Work with partners and volunteers to map the locations of invasive non-native species across the Stirling Council area and develop an INNS control action plan”.
An INNS control action plan is needed NOW not 2025!
