Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this newsletter. 

News

GB Stakeholder Forum

The 20^th GB Stakeholder Forum took place on the 19^th June at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead. Over 80 participants joined a day of talks and workshops on topics including water industry action on invasive non-native species, the Non-native Species Inspectorate, pathway action plans, island eradications, industry involvement in delivering the GB Strategy, and more. View the programme and presentations on the NNSS website.  

Pathway work

A Pet Pathway Action Plan (PAP) has been developed by a working group to reduce the risk of introduction, spread, and impact in the wild of non-native pets. A key part of the PAP is a set of measures for GB governments and the pet sector. The draft PAP will be reviewed by the UK Programme Board later this month and a public consultation on all draft pathway action plans is due to take place shortly.

Horizon scanning for invasive non-native species

Helen Roy, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

The GB Non-Native Species Information Portal (GBNNSIP) is a Defra-funded project that delivers information on non-native species across Britain. Horizon scanning, to make predictions about invasive non-native species that have the potential to arrive and establish in the next ten years, is a component of the GBNNSIP which is repeated approximately every 5 years. The approach taken involves rapid assessment of many hundreds of potential species coupled with expert-elicitation to address knowledge gaps (Roy et al. 2014). The list of invasive non-native species, spanning most taxonomic groups across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments, can be used in many different ways from informing which species should be included for risk assessment to raising awareness and engaging people in early detection. 

Over the next few months we will be compiling lists of invasive non-native species that are currently absent in Britain, but could arrive and establish in the next 10 years, to review through horizon scanning in early 2025. We would be very pleased to hear if you have any suggestions of species that should be included in this review. Please e-mail Helen Roy (hele@ceh.ac.uk) with the name of the species and, if you have time, any additional information about the species and potential impacts on biodiversity and ecosystems but also economies and human health.

• Find out more about horizon scanning on the NNSS website
• Roy, H.E. (2014) Horizon scanning for invasive alien species with the potential to threaten biodiversity in Great Britain. Global Change Biology, 20(12): 3859-3871

Communications

With your help the NNSS has sent out large numbers of awareness raising resources this year, including:

• Check Clean Dry: over 570 signs, 10,100 leaflets
• Be Plant Wise: 3,400 leaflets and guides to gardening without invasive plants
• Yellow-legged (Asian) hornet: 40,000 alert posters and 69,500 ID sheets

You can now view all awareness raising materials from the NNSS in one place on our website, including three new posters on key species:

• Non-native Alert species in Great Britain
• Animal Species of Special Concern
• Plant Species of Special Concern

This month we are focused on raising awareness of two GB Alert species. Please encourage everyone to look out for these species and report sightings:

Water primrose

Water primrose has been found in a variety of waterbodies in the UK, especially, ponds, fisheries and wetlands. The Environment Agency is coordinating the eradication of existing infestations. To date, 52 sites have been found, of which, 25 are believed to have been eradicated.

This is the time of year that water primrose is flowering. Please encourage everyone to look out for this species and report any sightings online through iRecord or by email to alertnonnative@ceh.ac.uk.

More information is available on the water primrose alert page including an ID sheet and graphics to share on social media.

Yellow-legged hornet (also known as Asian hornet)

19 yellow-legged (Asian) hornet nests have been found in GB this year. Information on sightings, including a map of nest locations, can be found on the website of the National Bee Unit. 

Any suspected sightings should be reported via the Asian Hornet Watch app or online reporting form. For more details on identification and reporting, including Alert posters and ID sheets to help, please visit the Asian hornet alert page.

Be Plant Wise

Throughout autumn and winter we will be reminding gardeners to ‘compost with care’ to prevent garden and pond plants from becoming invasive.

Please help us to promote the campaign by sharing resources with gardeners and horticulturalists:

• Be Plant Wise guidance for gardeners
• Guidance for professionals
• Materials for social media
• Awareness raising materials including guides to gardening without invasive plants

Developing an awareness raising campaign for pet owners

With the help of the Pet Pathway Action Plan Working Group, we are developing a new awareness raising campaign to prevent the spread of non-native pets, to be launched next Spring.

Update from APHA Local Action Group Coordinator

Ben Francis, Animal and Plant Health Agency 

I hope Local Action Groups (LAGs) have had a productive summer of invasive non-native species (INNS) treatment and working with volunteers. Below are some updates on my work to support LAGs since the last newsletter.

Updating the NNSS Website LAG pages

I have taken feedback from the NNSS LAG workshop, and other LAG discussions, and improved the LAG section of the NNSS website, including the toolkit. The new toolkit will be beneficial to new LAGs starting as well as established LAGs looking for more information. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to this. The new webpages will be launched shortly and I would welcome feedback on these.

Creating a LAG map

I have produced several versions of the LAG map to show where groups are operating and am working with colleagues in APHA to produce an interactive online map of LAG activities for the NNSS website. I will be working with INNS mapper to produce a map showing where LAG management has taken place in 2024. If you have managed invasive species this year, please consider uploading your management records to INNS mapper.

Facilitating regional meetings

I facilitated productive regional meetings for the North West of England, East Midlands and West Midlands, to discuss collaboration between LAGs and other organisations in these regions. If you are a LAG in the East or South of England, please contact me if you can assist in facilitating a regional group in these areas.

Supporting Defra funded projects

I have met with LAGs who have received funding from Defra to see how they are progressing and support them with any queries. It has been great to see the good work that has been done by LAGs and volunteers.

Promoting the work of LAGs

I produced an infographic for INNS week highlighting results of LAGs work around GB. I have met with organisations such as Network Rail to promote the work of LAGs and explore potential collaboration. I will continue to do this to gain more support for LAGs.

Supporting new groups

I have met with several organisations who are looking to start LAGs or grow their projects. If you would like support, please contact me.

Improving biosecurity provision

Outside of my work with LAGs I have been working with the NNSS and partners and landowners in the South East of England to improve biosecurity provision (e.g. Check Clean Dry signage) where priority species are found (quagga mussel, killer shrimp, Chinese mystery snail). I have also supported the AQUA accreditation scheme to engage new sites.

Future work to support LAGs

Some of the activities I will be focusing on over the next few months include:

• Adding the interactive LAG map to the NNSS website, then producing further maps showing other useful LAG work.
• Arranging regional meetings for early 2025 and supporting regions where there are existing groups.
• Supporting the end of the Defra funded LAG work and searching for new funding opportunities for LAGs.
• Continuing conversations with Network Rail and other organisations to support LAG work.
• Planning a 2024/25 survey of LAG work.

If you would like to know more, please contact me at ben.francis@apha.gov.uk.

Updates from non-native species projects

Biosecurity: Tees Marine Restoration

Chloe Lawrence, Tees Rivers Trust

As well as the work Tees Rivers Trust does on practical management of invasive species. TeRT implement biosecurity practices to minimise the impact of INNS on work restoring seagrass (Zostera marina and noltei) and native oysters (Ostrea edulis) to the Tees estuary.

Various biosecurity procedures are in place to protect these native species. The oysters are scrubbed clean whenever they are moved between water bodies. Recently, this has involved removing leathery sea squirt (Styela clava). For the seagrass, seeds are treated with copper sulfate and have separate systems set up, so that when seeds are grown from different populations, they can be kept entirely isolated from each other. This is mostly to avoid the spread of seagrass wasting disease, but also serves to contain any non-native pathogens.

Red Squirrel South West are uniting organisations across the South West Peninsular to reduce Grey Squirrel Populations

Will Phipps, Exmoor National Park Authority

Red Squirrel South West is working on a project to unite landowners and organisations across the South West Peninsular for the first time to create a unified working group with the aim of successful control of Grey Squirrels in order to protect the rare and precious habitats found on the Peninsular.

The project highlights the environmental, ecological and economic impacts that result from the damage caused by Grey Squirrels and presents a realistic and achievable framework for sustained control. If you would like to be involved, or to arrange a meeting to understand more, please email livvy@redsquirrelsouthwest.org.uk

Surveying marine non-native species in marinas and ports

Jan Maclennan, Natural England

Marinas and ports are high risk ‘hotspots’ for the introduction and spread of marine INNS. Defra have funded a project to carry out Rapid Assessment Surveys (RAS) for detection of priority marine non-native species (NNS) in sites around the coasts of England and Wales, focused on marinas. In Summer 2023, 36 marina sites were visited by the Marine Biological Association (MBA) that were all previously surveyed by them in 2014-16. Repeating surveys using the same timed-search protocol and a target list of over 50 species provided a relatively comprehensive overview of changes over a c. 8-year interval. In addition, successful surveys were carried out at two Welsh ports using settlement panels.

The potential role of environmental DNA (eDNA) in marine monitoring is being increasingly discussed. In particular, the validation of eDNA against traditional methods is needed to address evidence gaps on suitability for marine NNS monitoring. In this study, water samples from 13 RAS sites were analysed by CEFAS for the presence of DNA using two molecular methods: metabarcoding to detect a potentially complete inventory of species from each site and species-specific qPCR probes developed for six species on the UK Priority NIS List (GBNNSS 2020).

Initial results have shown an increase of 32% in NNS occurrence records in 2023 compared with the same 36 sites in 2014-16. In 2023, 33 different NNS were recorded compared to 31 in 2014-16. The average site in England and Wales had 2.6 more NNS in 2023 than in 2014-16, a 32% increase. All regions experienced an increase in mean NNS per marina. The greatest proportional increases were in North Wales (48%) followed by North-west England (47%).

The species recorded at the most sites in 2023 were Darwin’s barnacle (Austrominius modestus) found at 31 sites, and the Tufty-buff bryozoan (Tricellaria inopinata) found at 26 sites. The only new arrival in Great Britain between surveys on the RAS target list, the Purple fan-worm (Bispira polyomma), colonised the most new sites: undetected in 2014-16, by 2023 it occupied 10 sites throughout England and Wales. The Orange-tipped sea squirt (Corella eumyota) had the largest decrease in sites occupied (22 to 17).

The use of qPCR methods allows the detection of a small number of species with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Further, although metabarcoding methodology picked up a greater number of species than RAS overall, RAS outperformed metabarcoding significantly for those species most likely to attach to hard substrate in marinas and ports (e.g. sea squirts, bryozoans and barnacles), for which this method is designed. Species exclusively detected by metabarcoding tended to be planktonic or sediment-dwellers that are unlikely to be detected by RAS.

Operators of each survey site were sent a list of NNS present in 2014-16 and 2023. While visiting the marinas and ports, outreach conversations were initiated with operators and interested yacht owners, and copies of the waterproof “Identification guide for selected marine non-native species” distributed.

The study did not cover South-west England, and further surveys have just been completed in Summer 2024 (results awaiting analysis) to complete the comprehensive coverage of the coast and extend coverage of ports to English examples. A final report will be published following this year’s surveys and data uploaded to Marine Recorder for future access from NBN.

Please note that the report is not yet published and so results should be considered in draft. For further information please contact Jan Maclennan jan.maclennan@naturalengland.org.uk

Peel Ports launches Marine Biosecurity Information Notes

Lisa Reilly, Peel Ports

Following on from the success of the Peel Ports Marine Biosecurity Plan in 2023 which looks at practical steps the port can take to reduce the risk of invasive species transfer into their port waters, Peel Ports have recently developed Marine Biosecurity Information Notes (MBIN). 

These can be accessed on the Peel Ports website. They highlight steps and procedures to reduce invasive species transfer during regular marine activities taking place across Peel Ports 7 Statutory Harbour Authority areas. View the following MBIN:

• Reducing the biosecurity risk from PPE, clothing and equipment
• Reducing the biosecurity risk from recreational activities and organised events
• Reducing the biosecurity risk from aquaculture
• Reducing the biosecurity risk from hull cleaning

AQUA Biosecurity Accreditation Scheme

Neil Green, Bristol Zoological Society

The AQUA (Aquatic Quality Award) biosecurity accreditation scheme was a regional pilot trial run by the Bristol Zoological Society (in conjunction with South West Water and the Animal and Plant Health Agency), through the RAPID (Reducing and Preventing IAS Dispersal) LIFE Project.

The aim of the AQUA scheme was to work with individual water bodies, which are open to anglers and other waterway users, to help them increase their biosecurity efforts to combat the threat of invasive species, site guardians, implementing biosecurity measures & effective communications are key to their success. The AQUA accreditation award ensures sites are recognised as centres that are actively conserving their site to maximise native aquatic and riparian diversity.

Three levels of the award in the scheme exist: bronze, silver and gold. 45 south west sites were accredited as part of the scheme initially, growing to over 60 sites with approximately 15 more in the process of accreditation in 2024.  Sites include; paddle board companies, angling clubs, water companies (South West Water, Yorkshire Water, Severn Trent & Bristol Water), diving centres, sailing clubs a University and open water swimming lakes.

AQUA priorities for 2024-25

Since the end of RAPID, the AQUA Afterlife national project has been launched. The UK Conservation Team at Bristol Zoological Society, who designed the scheme initially as part of the RAPID project, are the lead on the scheme. There are seven priority AQUA objectives:

1. To continue to roll out the scheme nationally
2. Accredit additional sites locally in the South West of England
3. Review the current list accredited sites, to assess if the sites are still meeting the criteria
4. Produce a register of Check Clean Dry signage
5. Create a register of existing wash-down facilities
6. Secure on-going funding
7. Monitor the efficacy of the scheme and adapt as required.

To get involved or just for further information please contact Neil Green, UK Biosecurity Officer at ngreen@bzsociety.org.uk.

Abseilers drop in to tackle river’s giant hogweed

Emily Iles, Tweed Forum

A team of specialist abseilers has been helping to tackle an invasive non-native plant on steep banks of the River Tweed. It is part of a long-standing control project to reduce the density and abundance of giant hogweed in the area. Tweed Forum brought in specialist contractors to help control the hogweed in areas which are more difficult to access.

The river network is an ideal transportation network for giant hogweed with each plant able to produce between 20,000 and 50,000 seeds which can remain dormant in the soil for many years. Despite the challenging nature of this plant, our two decades of giant hogweed control have greatly reduced plant numbers on the main stem of the River Tweed. Our trained volunteers and contractors do most of the work tackling the plants, but we do occasionally have to call on specialist help like these abseilers for hard-to-reach areas. This project is funded by EU LIFE WADER and National Heritage Lottery Fund.

The Garden Escapers Project

Lisa Toth, Project Officer, North Wales Wildlife Trust

The Garden Escapers project at North Wales Wildlife Trust aims to explore how to best engage with key stakeholders to prevent invasive – and potentially invasive – plants escaping gardens into the wild. We are doing this by, for example:

• Developing a gardeners’ ‘toolkit’
• Hosting a stakeholder workshop on November 14th 2024
• Co-developing an educational exhibit with an artist (launching in Spring 2025)

To develop the toolkit, we conducted three focus groups (15 attendees) and an online bilingual survey (176 responses). By asking gardeners directly, we will be able to develop a toolkit fit for purpose. We wanted to understand:

• what resources gardeners need
• what existing resources they are aware of
• what might stop them from tackling invasive species

Questions we asked included: ‘Have you seen / heard of any of the resources listed?’ with the responses shown below.

We also asked: ‘Have you tackled invasive species in the last six months?’, to which 63% of responses responded ‘yes’. A few examples of the plants which they’d tackled include:

• Cotoneaster
• Himalayan balsam
• Buddleia
• Montbretia
• Crocosmia
• Bamboo

The development of this toolkit we hope will bring together the resources gardeners need and be an opportunity to improve the awareness of the existing resources.

The Garden Escapers project is hosting a stakeholder workshop on November 14th in Bangor, where we will:

• Provide an update on the current project
• Undertake stakeholder mapping – who have we not reached?
• Explore new ideas to achieve our project aim

For information or to attend the workshop contact: lisa.toth@northwaleswildlifetrust.org.uk or visit the Garden Escapers website

Update on American skunk cabbage treatment

Susie Tudge, Natural Resources Wales

The Upper Wye Catchment Restoration Team from Natural Resources Wales have been out surveying a number of tributaries of the upper Wye for INNS, namely Himalayan Balsam, Japanese Knotweed and American Skunk Cabbage. These 3 species are the worst offenders in the Wye catchment, reducing biodiversity, out-competing native plants and exacerbating riverbank erosion.

We have identified areas of American Skunk Cabbage and have started treating some areas this year, with more treatment planned next spring. We are hoping that swift intervention in the upper reaches of the catchment will prevent the species taking hold. Various treatment methods will be employed and the results monitored to determine which is most effective.

In our recent project newsletter we asked people to get involved by logging any INNS that they see when out and about and gave advice about pulling Himalayan Balsam and how to avoid spreading it. For more information about the Upper Wye Catchment Restoration Project visit our webpage: Upper Wye Catchment Restoration Project Citizen Space

Voluntary floating pennywort removal event

Drew Chadwick, Angling Trust

Another fantastic volunteering event was organised by The Angling Trust & Paddle UK, working on the Lea navigation in and around Springfield Marina, Hackney. The volunteers managed to remove a staggering 10 tonnes + of this invasive non-native aquatic plant species which will no doubt vastly improve the overall environment. A special thanks to the Leaside Trust who are a superb host and kindly allowed the volunteers to use their equipment and facilities. If you would like to get involved in volunteering on the Lea, contact the project leads:

• Drew Chadwick - chadwick@anglingtrust.net
• Pippa Rowlandson – rowlandson@con.paddleuk.org.uk

INNS prevention, control and biosecurity

Laura Dee, South West Lakes Trust

South West Lakes Trust (SWLT) are working in partnership with South West Water (SWW) to help protect our lakes from the impacts of Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS). We work closely with all water users to encourage everyone to work together to prevent INNS causing damage to the lakes, and in turn helping to protect the activities we enjoy. We are delighted to be part of the AQUA accreditation scheme. The scheme offers tiered awards and provides recognition that we are actively conserving the lakes to maximise native aquatic diversity. Within the AQUA scheme we have Volunteer Site Guardians who are our eyes and ears on the ground and report any new INNS or the spread of existing ones. These wonderful volunteers know the lakes extremely well and have such a crucial role in maintaining the protection of our sites.

We have 32 sites in the scheme and by the end of the year hope to have 34! We were the first to be awarded a gold award and are delighted that we have two sites with gold - Burrator reservoir and Roadford Lake. SWLT and SWW work closely with our partners and stakeholders to help deliver the scheme.

Throughout the summer we have been promoting biosecurity at angling and boating events to ensure visitors are aware of INNS and biosecurity. We engage with anglers before they go out onto the water and ensure that those who have brought their own equipment to the lake have Checked, Cleaned and Dried their equipment. Additionally, we have been manually managing INNS by pulling Himalayan Balsam, digging up Montbretia and controlling Parrots Feather.

We have also been updating our dip tanks from metal inner tanks to plastic. Always looking for ways to improve and provide higher quality biosecurity facilities, these new tanks are more durable and easier to clean. Following this we have a new dip tank being built at Squabmoor Reservoir. Added to all of this a new boat washdown built at Stithians Reservoir will be opening soon!

For more information contact: invasives@swlakestrust.org.uk or visit the South West Lakes Trust website.

Zebra Mussel eradication programme on Bude Canal, Cornwall.

Ashley Bunning, Invasive Fish and Aquatic Biosecurity Officer, South West Water

Zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is an invasive non-native mollusc to the UK. The mussel is in relatively low numbers in Devon and Cornwall, with two of the known sites with them being Bude and Exeter Canal. Cornwall council owned Bude canal is a hub for recreational activities such as: angling, kayaking, canoeing and walkers. These frequently visit South West Waters Upper Tamar near by, therefore both parties are working in partnership to protect the drinking water supply at Upper Tamar.

The water chemistry found in the region is generally high acidity and low calcium which is poorly suited for the mussel. Bude canal consists of two basins with limestone harbour walls which is where surveys have found the mussel, but past this, various surveys have found no known populations higher up the canal. This indicates that the limestone walls are providing the mussels with the right environment to survive.

South West Water, Cornwall Council, Dr. David Aldridge (University of Cambridge) and stakeholders of Bude Canal have been working on a possible way to achieve the eradication of the mussel from the canal. First point was to raise awareness of the issue. This was achieved by attending and organising events, installing signs and posters, and installing an informative bench at the canal. 

After investigations conducted by Dr. David Aldridge, a plan to use barley straw bales to slightly alter the pH of the water and reduce the available calcium in the two basins was formed. By reducing the available calcium in the water it is believe this will effect the efficiency of the early life stages of the mussel to form a shell, thus dying off.

The barely straw will be placed into hessian sacks and installed into the canal. Currently we are trialling this on the canal with 2 sacks installed to ensure all stakeholders are happy with the design and highlight any issues. The full installation of the barley straw is aimed for April 2025. We hope this will be a positive nature-based solution to combat this invasive non native species.

For further information please contact abunning@southwestwater.co.uk. 

Azolla weevils helping to eradicate invasive species in West Wales

Dana Thomas, Natural Resources Wales

Whilst doing restoration work last summer at Natural Resources Wales’s (NRW) Llangloffan Fen National Nature Reserve (NNR) near Fishguard, the Four Rivers for LIFE project found Azolla, an invasive non-native species (INNS) of floating aquatic plant, on standing water.

Azolla is one of the most invasive plants in the UK today. It grows rapidly and forms on the surface of the water in mats which can be 30cm thick. During hot weather, mats can double in size in just four or five days. These block out light, killing other aquatic flora and reduce oxygen availability, which can lead to the death of fish and invertebrates.

The project contacted CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International) as they have successfully eradicated Azolla in a number of areas using the Azolla Weevil. With CABI’s advice and support the project released Azolla Weevils at Llangloffan Fen NNR in June 2024.

After eight weeks the effects of the weevils were significant and the project was pleased to see that most of the Azolla had disappeared and been replaced by the native duckweed (see images – credit NRW). The project will continue to monitor progress over the Winter and early in the growing season next spring in order to assess whether the weevils have managed to eradicate the Azolla.  

This work is funded by the EU LIFE programme. Find out more about the Four Rivers for LIFE project and learn more about Azolla biocontrol projects led by CABI.

‘Balsam Bashes’ a massive summer success with LIFEquake

Mark Bond, Natural Resources Wales

A considerable amount of volunteer INNS removal activity has taken place across LIFEquake project sites during the summer months.

LIFEquake, funded by EU LIFE and supported by Welsh Government is delivered by Natural Resources Wales in partnership with Eryri National Park, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park and National Trust. The peatland restoration project is focussing on 7 Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) across Wales – most notably the transition mire and quaking bog habitat at Crymlyn Reserve in Swansea, where there is a significant challenge in managing Himalayan balsam and other invasive vegetation.

Between June and August, LIFEquake held a number of extremely popular ‘environment days’ which involved members of local communities, the Eryri Society and internal NRW staff dedicating their annual two-day volunteering entitlement to the removal of invasive balsam from project sites.

The ‘balsam bashes’ which engaged close to 200 participants over 5 sessions were held alongside an extensive phase of contractor activity onsite paid for by LIFEquake and will now feature as a regular volunteer opportunity on project sites. Interpretation panels have recently been installed around the Crymlyn Reserve to inform visitors of both the negative impact Himalayan balsam has on the habitat and the many interventions being put in place to control it.

Matthew Lowe, team leader for LIFEquake said:

“The removal and control of invasive vegetation is always a major consideration in projects that seek to restore these precious places, and due to the bog surface being at times unsuitable for volunteer activity, the summer ‘balsam bashes’ provide an ideal opportunity to engage people, to educate them about the habitat and to highlight the challenges we face while making an obvious and lasting difference to the landscape. We’re really thankful for the interest shown and the effort that has been so evident during these sessions”.

For more information on LIFEquake, follow their project Natural Resources Wales / LIFE Quaking Bogs and social media @LIFE Quaking Bogs.

INNS Mapper - 1 year update

Steph Bradbeer, Yorkshire Water

INNS Mapper is an app and website for the reporting of sightings, surveys and management of INNS in England, Wales and Scotland. Available in Welsh and English, INNS Mapper is free to use and aims to provide an effective resource to support INNS programmes and coordinate efforts. Data reported to INNS Mapper is free and open access.

Year One Stats

The launch and subsequent promotion and use of INNS Mapper has been very positive. In the first year since its launch (8th August 2023-4), INNS Mapper has 1945 registered users and has 17,670 new reports made. In addition to 16,435 new sightings, there have been 392 surveys and 843 management reports made.

Promotion

INNS Mapper has been and continues to be promoted and partners have developed awareness-raising materials. This includes YouTube videos which go through the functions on INNS Mapper, a flyer and a presentation pack which is available to those that want to run an INNS Mapper session (for copy, contact invasives@ywt.org.uk). INNS Mapper has also been presented at a number of regional and national meetings and conferences.

Feedback

The feedback from users has been largely positive with some constructive feedback and improvement suggestions. The ease of use of the app has been widely feedback. Where common questions occur the FAQ page has been updated. Minor improvements that can be made within the maintenance of the tool have been done and other considerations have been noted for future iterations of INNS Mapper.

We are aiming to highlight projects that have used INNS Mapper and demonstrate the application this tool to enhance the overall achievements of projects. Examples could range from a region/catchment level control programme to a smaller scale, yet equally important project. If you have or are aware of examples to provide, please get in touch invasives@ywt.org.uk.

Looking ahead

Alongside continuing promotion of INNS Mapper, we will be launching a ‘INNS Mapper User Feedback Survey’ shortly and would encourage feedback via this route. We are also looking to have a Working Group to discuss and summarise ideas for INNS Mapper. This will then be feedback to the INNS Mapper Steering Group. If you would be interested in being involved in the Working Group please get in touch.

Thanks

And finally, thank you to all those out there tackling INNS and ensuring your records are captured on INNS Mapper. Working together is the only way we can manage INNS and we, as the INNS Mapper Steering Group are very pleased with how this tool has been utilised in the first year since its launch.

Other articles you may have missed

• The Olympic windsurfers and rowers fighting invasive alien species (BBC)
• Inaugural RoWindermere tour sets high standard for sustainability (British Rowing)

Upcoming events

• 2024 International Weed Conference: Thursday 28 November

Contact the NNSS

You can contact us at: nnss@apha.gov.uk. For more information please visit www.nonnativespecies.org where you can find:

• The Non-native Species Information Portal (NNSIP) with detailed factsheets for over 300 non-native species and distribution data for over 3000 species
• ‘What can I do?’: links to our Be Plant Wise and Check Clean Dry campaigns, all of our awareness raising materials, and training resources
• Non-native species legislation
• Information on Local Action Groups
• Biosecurity resources
• And much more!

You can follow our awareness raising campaigns on X (Twitter) @CheckCleanDryGB and @InvasiveSp.