Tweed Forum worked with the Environment Agency to devise a regional invasive non-native species (INNS) strategy, database and action plan for the north east of England, covering the Till subcatchment of the Tweed as well as the Tees, Wear, Tyne and Northumberland Rivers catchments
The North East Invasive Non-native Species Strategy and Action Plan focuses on freshwater and riparian species, and aims to ‘develop and maintain cost-effective strategic approaches to prevent, detect, control and eradicate specified INNS in North East river catchments through the coordinated action of river catchment partnerships.’ INNS threaten our natural heritage by modifying the physical environment and out-competing native species, and a coordinated approach is needed to tackle them.
Before the Plan, much of the current INNS work across the region was carried out with limited coordination between organisations, between geographical areas, and across different species. Limited coordination is linked to a lack of region-scale planning, unsustainable investment, and also the fact that organisations may have different reasons for tackling INNS.
The Strategy is aligned with existing EU and UK strategies and makes recommendations across the 5 river catchments focusing on the key elements of INNS management: prevention; surveillance; detection and rapid response; and longer-term control. Four main objectives for effective and sustainable INNS management in the North East were identified:
Objective 1 – Increased coordination of strategic and sustainable approaches to key aspects of INNS management in the North East
Objective 2 – Reduce the risk of the introduction and spread of freshwater and riparian INNS in the North East through increased awareness and biosecurity
Objective 3 – Establish a multi-catchment framework for the detection and surveillance of INNS linked to agreed protocols to ensure appropriate rapid management responses
Objective 4 – Strategic and sustainable implementation of longer-term local control and eradication programmes
The Action Plan sets out how to achieve these objectives.
The strategy was developed in collaboration with Northumbrian Water, Environment Agency, Environmental Records Information Centre (ERIC) North East, and the Tees, Tyne, Wear, and Northumberland Rivers Trusts. Data informing the evidence base was kindly supplied by ERIC and by individual organisations, in addition to short questionnaires distributed to the wider stakeholder group.
Image copyright
American signal crayfish: Astacoides CC BY-SA 3.0
Pirri-pirri-bur: Macleay Grass Man CC BY 2.0