Highlights from Invasive Species Week 2024

Raising awareness of Northern Ireland’s invasive species

20th – 26th May 2024


Thank you to everyone involved in Invasive Species Week recently! It was another fantastic week thanks to your hard work. GBNNSS have pulled together some highlights below and an infographic summarising some of these.

From 20-26 May 2024, over 200 organisations across England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man took part in Invasive Species Week.

Seventy-five events were held including:

  • 17 talks and webinars covering topics from the international impact of invasive non-native species to eDNA and conservation detection dogs. Six webinars hosted by the NNSS had 559 attendees and 334 views of the recordings. 
  • 42 awareness raising events, including volunteer training days, guided walks, an invasive species survey, pop-up stands at lakes and reservoirs across the country, and a tour of local garden centres to promote Be Plant Wise.
  • 16 volunteer events by Local Action Groups, to tackle four invasive non-native species. A fantastic 21 tonnes of floating pennywort and 4,300 Himalayan balsam plants were removed

On X (Twitter) over 500 tweets were shared using #INNSweek or #InvasiveSpeciesWeek. Thirty-five tweets from the Invasive Species Week account reached almost 22,000 people aloneForty-four blogs and 27 videos were published by a wide range of organisations covering topics from specific species such as Asian hornet and American mink to introduction pathways and biosecurity. Visits to the Invasive Species Week webpages were 456% higher during Invasive Species Week than the week following.

The Animal & Plant Health Agency ran an extremely popular discovery stand at Chelsea Flower Show to raise awareness of Asian hornet, which was awarded a Gold medal and Best in the Discovery Zone.

You can view all events and activities from the week, including NNSS webinar recordings, on the Invasive Species Week website.


Invasive Species Week 2024 in Northern Ireland:

Many of our stakeholders took part to either promote the work they do to combat invasive species on their sites or provide useful resources to share.

       

Our own staff, including our NED Director, Larissa Strutt, along with some other local volunteers, took part in a ‘Balsam Bash’ on the ‘What can I do?’ themed day.
Armagh City, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council hosted us at the Oxford Island Nature Reserve adjacent to Lough Neagh.

The council journalist produced a video with a time lapse to show the progress the volunteers were making.

 

Himalayan balsam before the ‘bash’

 

Director of NED Larissa Strutt getting stuck in

 

After the volunteers had ‘balsam bashed’

 

Volunteers gather in Discovery Centre

 

Volunteers gather at site for safety talk

 

Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council’s Biodiversity Officer delivered training courses for the Council’s Grounds Maintenance staff.

 

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council also hosted an online information webinar in which Rose Muir, NIEA INNS Team Lead, took part.

 

Fermanagh and Omagh District Council also produced an online guidance video.


Invasive Species Week 2024

Invasive non-native species are one of the top five drivers of global biodiversity loss and cost the Northern Ireland economy approximately £150 million a year and can even harm our health. Help us to protect our environment and wildlife by taking part in Invasive Species Week!


Daily Themes

  • You can follow our daily themes for communications activities, or use your own: 
    • Monday – what are invasive non-native species (INNS)? It’s important to be clear about the difference between non-native and invasive non-native species.
    • Tuesday – How are they spread? Are there activities that you or your audience are involved in that are a particular risk?
    • Wednesday – Why are they a problem? How do they affect your local environment, sport, industry etc? We’ll also be looking at the links between INNS and climate change / biodiversity loss. 
    • Thursday – What is being done to prevent this? This is an opportunity to share what your organisation is already doing or what you plan to do in future. 
    • Friday – What can I do? What could your audience, staff, or members do to help? (See our five things that everyone can do for inspiration)
    • Saturday and Sunday – Activities to get involved in. Could you host an event? (See our list of ideas to help)

Social media details

Hashtags:#INNSweek or #getINNSvolved.

Facebook: Invasive Species Northern Ireland X: @InvasNI


Events from Invasive Species Week 2024:

Monday 20th May

  • NNSS webinar: 13:00-13:45. Introduction to Invasive Species Week. With Professor Helen Roy (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) and Lucy Cornwell (NNSS).

Tuesday 21st May

  • NNSS webinar: 12:00-12:45. Using eDNA to detect invasive non-native species. With Dr Lori Lawson-Handley, University of Hull. 
  • NNSS webinar: 13:00-13:45. INNS surveillance and rapid eradication in Scotland. With Stan Whitaker, NatureScot.
  • Webinar: 12:00-13:00. Progress towards eradication in Aberdeen; successes to date and challenges ahead. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels.

Wednesday 22nd May

  • NNSS webinar: 13:00-13:45. Non-native Species Inspectorate update. With Courtney Graham and Zoe Golding, Non-native Species Inspectorate, APHA.
  • Lough Erne Landscape Partnership Webinar: 19:00-20:30. An introduction to Invasive Species in Northern Ireland. In Partnership with Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday 23rd May

  • NNSS webinar: 15:00-16:00. Invasive non-native species impacts and response on the island of Anguilla. With Anguilla Government and Anguilla National Trust.

Friday 24th May

  • Volunteer event: 11:00-13:30. NIEA & ABC Borough Council Balsam Bash at Oxford Island Nature Reserve. Booking is essential as spaces are limited.
  • NNSS webinar: 13:00-13:45. Supporting local action on invasive non-native species: INNS Mapper and the Floating Pennywort Strategy. With Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency.

Saturday 25th & Sunday 26th May

  • Pop up awareness raising stand: 11:00-17:00. Mountpanther Farm Park, Downpatrick.
Invasive Species Northern Ireland

Invasive Species Northern Ireland