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:
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 alone. Forty-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.
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 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!
Hashtags:#INNSweek or #getINNSvolved.
Facebook: Invasive Species Northern Ireland X: @InvasNI