So, insurance backed guarantees are brilliant, right? You get protection if the company providing your Japanese knotweed remediation programme goes bust, on top of the contractor’s written guarantee – which now often stretches to a full ten years. So why am I bitching about them *again*?
Up and down the UK, leaves are currently turning yellow on many plants and trees, and it is particularly striking the on the Japanese knotweed stands. In the autumn, as part of the natural process of senescence, which is the aging and eventual shedding of leaves, this process is primarily triggered by changes in the […]
Last month, the IPBES Invasive Alien Species Assessment was released to widespread (and deserved) acclaim. This detailed, thorough report from the snappily-named ‘Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ runs to over 50 pages, contains a wealth of information and comes endorsed by senior figures at the United Nations and the Convention on Biological […]
There are a variety of terms used to describe the mixtures used to kill weeds: “plant protection product”, “herbicide”, “pesticide” – these words could all refer to the same bottle of Roundup sold over the counter at any one of hundreds or thousands of shops across the UK – or the professional products that INNSA […]
It is well known that invasive species, particularly including Himalayan balsam, can cause erosion on the banks of watercourses. The shallow root system of the Himalayan balsam plant, which dies and decomposes each year after the growing season, combined with the tendency for Himalayan balsam to form dense monoculture stands, results in riverbanks becoming denuded […]
When the going gets tough, it’s going to be tempting to cut a few corners. Costs are going up, the bills keep coming through the door, the taxman is chasing his share and all your staff want a pay rise…what are you going to do? Well, why not cheat? We have had reports that increasingly […]
Defra has released a new invasive species strategy for Great Britain, highlighting a vision protect biodiversity, ecosystems, people and the economy and implement a partnership of government, voluntary organisations, NGOs, academia, businesses and the public. The report highlights the likelihood that climate change will increase the problems caused by invasive species and sets out its […]
We may have said it before but sometimes we in the INNSA offices wonder whether we would have been better focusing on a career in the legal profession. Such thoughts have arisen a number of times over the past couple of months as we have watched several judgements come in from the civil courts and […]
As we start a new year, I thought it might be worth re-visiting why the Invasive Non Native Specialists Association (INNSA) was originally founded. Going back twenty years or so, invasive species had become an area for concern and Japanese knotweed in particular had captured the public imagination. Newspaper articles about devalued properties and damage […]
If you only read one line of this article, let it be this one: if you’re selling a home, consider long and hard before you answer “No”, to the question: “is the property affected by Japanese knotweed?” on the TA6 form – you may be much better off if you tick the “Not known” box… […]
