Examples of costs

Invasive non-native species are estimated to cost in the region of £1.7 billion a year in Great Britain (Williams et al, 2010).

Just a few examples of costs associated with invasive non-native species include:
  • A predicted £1.56b to eradicate Japanese Knotweed nationwide (Defra, 2003)
  • £2m spent to eradicate Japanese Knotweed on a 2 hectare development site (Williams et al, 2010)
  • £11m estimated to be the cost that would be required to eradicate Rhododendron from a National Park in Wales (Postnote, 2008)
  • £13.9m of damage per year estimated to be caused by Deer vehicle collisions (many of which were non-native species) (Langbein & Putman, 2006)
  • £100,000 spent by one water works on modifications to cope with Zebra Mussels (Williams et al, 2010)
  • £10m estimated cost to British timber industry of Squirrel damage to Beech, Sycamore and Oak woodland (Booy et al, 2008)
  • £1m delay caused to a road development scheme while waiting to treat Japanese Knotweed (Booy et al, 2008)

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