This week’s discussion point from me is about Invasive Non-Native Species Week which runs from 24 to 31 May. As paddlers, we are guests in blue spaces and so hold responsibility for raising awareness of – and helping to take care of – our delicate ecosystems, protecting them not just from ourselves but also from other people, industrial and agricultural development and impact, litter pollution and non-native species amongst others. The impact of each and every one of us not taking responsibility for our blue space dwellers can lead to them struggling and being deprived of clean and healthy waters, vital nutrients, food and natural light, which ultimately will also affect us in our own foodchain with what we choose to eat.
Floating Pennywort is one such invasive non-native species that can clog up our waterways within days, causing issues for paddlers, anglers and other water users. It can contribute to localised flooding – particularly affecting residential areas – due to blocked drains and flood defence systems, and costs our economy around £25 million every year. This species – which presents as a large floating mat of weed – can grow up to 20cm per day, and within days can envelop and cripple large swathes of our waterways. This can affect fish, plants and insects amongst others, but can – with care – be reduced by a few small actions. We can reduce the likelihood of this happening by utilising provided ‘Check Clean Dry’ stations installed on our waterways or follow the same process at our home or other paddling environments, ensuring that we are not carrying any extra stowaway passengers as we switch between waterways.
Keen to find out more? Check out some free e-learning from British Canoeing about how our ecosystems can be damaged and how we can arm ourselves with the skills and knowledge to help make a difference – however big or small – to our blue spaces and those that live within them:
http://www.britishcanoeingawarding.org.uk/…/introducti…/
Were you aware of the impact that we can make to our blue spaces in terms of invasive species?
What do you already do to help combat and prevent the spreading of non-native species?
Have you ever experienced the resulting outcomes of invasive non-native species and/or blue space neglect? If so, how?
What solutions can you envision towards tackling or resolving our non-native invasion issues?
For further information:
https://www.canoewales.com/invasive-non-native-species-week
www.canoewales.com/top-8-invasive-species-when-paddling
www.nonnativespecies.org/floatingpennywort