Citizens’ army of 1.3m ‘needed to fight off invasive species’

Damage from non-native plants and insects costs about £1.8bn a year – and will get worse, MPS warn

BRITAIN needs a “citizens’ army” to fight the influx of invasive species, MPS have concluded.

The Commons environment audit committee has warned the Government that 1.3million trained volunteers are needed to identify and respond to biosecurity risks, in a new scheme modelled on a system developed in New Zealand.

They would be trained to identify invasive species and destroy them, stop them spreading or alert authorities.

The growing threat from Invasive Non-native Species (INNS), is estimated to cost Britain £1.8billion a year.

If its recommendations are accepted, the committee said the citizen’s army could be set up by around 2025. It also called for a special border force for invasive species to be set up by 2020.

Mary Creagh, the chairman of the committee, said: “INNS is one of the UK’S top five threats to the natural environment. If we’re to beat this, we need people power with an army of volunteers trained to spot and stop an invasive species before it becomes established. Government funding to tackle invasive species is tiny and fails to match the scale of the threat.”

Invasive species, including Japanese knotweed, the oak processionary moth, creeping water primrose, and topmouth gudgeon can destroy ecosystems, causing costly clean-ups, kill native wildlife, destroy homes and cause problems for businesses.

Some also pose a risk to human health, including Lyme disease spread by non-native deer, skin rashes and blistering from giant hogweed, and skin irritation and breathing difficulties from oak processionary moth caterpillars.

INNS that pose the greatest threat to human health are mosquitoes and ticks, with the UK starting to see the arrival of the Asian hornet which can cause anaphylactic shock.

Future threats are predicted to come from the Asian tiger mosquito, which carries chikungunya and dengue fever.

The report also argues that more public awareness around biosecurity is needed, as many invasive species are spread by people buying plants from abroad, dumping plants from aquariums and transferring species from one body of water to another when fishing or on boats. MPS concluded that the Government has missed its legal targets on tackling invasive species and failed to give it the same priority and funding as animal and plant health regimes. They point out in the report that funding for biosecurity in Britain is estimated at £220 million a year, however invasive species receive less than one per cent of that sum at £0.9million.

Brexit could also impact biosecurity, MPS argued, as changing trade routes could allow more invasive species to arrive from South America and Asia, with online trade considered a new and significant risk.

A Defra spokesman said: “Invasive non-native species not only challenge the survival of some of our rarest species but damage our natural ecosystems as well as costing the economy more than £1.7 billion per year.

“We are committed to being leaders in tackling invasive species, and our 25-year environment plan commits us to enhancing the biosecurity of the country even further.

“We welcome the EAC’S report and will now carefully consider its findings and recommendations.”

‘If we’re to beat this, we need people power with an army of volunteers trained to spot and stop an invasive species’