PRESS RELEASE

2 November 2009

ALIEN ATTACK – EXTERMINATING JAPANESE KNOTWEED

Alien plants have come under attack from Cheshire Wildlife Trust at two nature reserves in Cheshire. The non-native Japanese Knotweed is regarded as an aggressive ‘alien’ or ‘invasive’ plant species that is highly detrimental to our native species. It is a large and quickly-spreading plant that, once established on a nature reserve, quickly crowds out native plants, particularly nectar-rich flowering plants.

This is bad news for bees and butterflies, which rely on nectar-rich flowering plants as a food source. Where Japanese Knotweed has taken hold, these plants have all but disappeared.

Unfortunately the alien species has invaded a number of Cheshire Wildlife Trust’s Nature Reserves that were once noted for their diverse bees and butterflies. So Cheshire Wildlife Trust decided to fight back!

Funding was raised to buy new innovative specialised equipment that injects chemicals directly into the plant stem. The chemical, glyphosate, is drawn down into the roots at the end of summer as the plant prepares for winter. The poison is deadly to the plant but becomes inert (i.e. non-poisonous) when it comes into contact with soil or water, so it harms nothing in the ecosystem other than the alien knotweed.

Since the purchase of the equipment in September, the injection system has already been used with great success at Knutsford Moor and Dark Lane (nr Altrincham) nature reserves. Results have been rapid and therefore it is anticipated that we will see nectar rich flowers return to the nature reserves next spring. This in turn will hopefully boost local populations of bees and butterflies. The injection system will be used to exterminate more Japanese Knotweed in the future.

-ENDS-