Cash to tackle invaders on the riverbank
Efforts to eradicate giant hogweed
Alastair Mcneill
Work has started to tackle invasive plant species like giant hogweed up and down the banks of the Allan Water.
Allan Water Angling Improvement Association (AWAIA) has received a grant of £9238 to remove hogweed, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsalm and American skunk cabbage.
The work backed by Forth Rivers Trust, involves volunteers, wearing protective clothing, spraying weedkiller.
It commenced in the Greenloaning area at the end of April and is set to reach where the river meets the Forth in September.
The Allan Water catchment is among the most infested within the Forth district for giant hogweed, the sap from which can burn the skin.
AWAIA committee member Mick Symon said this week: “The angling association, along with Dunblane Community Council, has engaged volunteers in spraying these invasive species. No spraying has been done for the association for several years due to lack of funding.
“However, spraying downstream from Greenloaning has started which will conclude at Bridge of Allan.
“It is weather dependent, so recent wet weather may halt progress, but the project is scheduled over 17 weeks this year.
“A second phase covering the same ground and timescale will take place in 2023 during the same period.
“It’s an ongoing job to tackle these plants. Hogweed seeds can lie dormant in the ground for years.
“We really need to see it through if we are to eradicate hogweed.”
The £9238 grant is from the Crown Estate sustainable communities fund, established in 2020, to support regeneration and sustainable development.
The grants – of between £5,000 and £20,000 – are available to Crown Estate Scotland tenants for projects which can show environmental benefits within 18 months of receiving the cash.
AWAIA secretary John Mckenzie said in the application to the Crown Estate: ‘The project will look to increase the value of the Allan Water river by halting natural habitat loss or degradation of sites caused by the encroachment of Invasive Non-native Species (INNS).
‘The river also provides great opportunities for communities and recreational users such as hillwalkers, anglers, cyclists and kayakers which can be, and have been, impacted by INNS.
‘Removal of invasive species will make the river more accessible and safer for people to experience and enjoy’.
Applications for the next round of the sustainable communities fund will open in August this year.
Hogweed seeds can lie dormant in the ground for years