School children wage war on alien weed

3 July 2009

Over a hundred local pupils teamed up with Conservation Volunteers to weed out an invasive alien plant that threatens to engulf local river banks and damp grounds.

In one of the biggest exercises of its kind mounted in Tyrone, children from Aughamullan and St John’s Primary Schools, tackled an outbreak of Himalayan Balsam at the Washing Bay Local Nature Reserve.

The four acre nature reserve is a valuable site for wildlife, containing a range of habitats including wet woodland, fen/swamp, reedbeds, and of course Lough Neagh. A wide variety of wildlife can be found in the site, with species such as otter, tree sparrow, bullfinch, curlew and lapwing, all of which are known to be in decline throughout Northern Ireland.

Conservation Volunteers, in partnership with Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council, organised the ‘Weeding for Wildlife’ scheme at the Reserve.

The aim of the scheme is to highlight the problems associated with non-native invasive species, and to literally ‘weed out those species that have the most detrimental effect on our local wildlife.

Mark Edgar, Biodiversity Officer for Dungannon & South Tyrone Borough explained, “Non-native species are those that have been introduced outside their natural range. Many of these live in harmony with our native species causing no adverse impacts. However, a few become what is know as invasive, as they thrive in our habitats and out-compete our native wildlife. These ‘invasive alien species’ are widely recognised as one of the greatest threats to our native biodiversity.”

One such invasive species, Himalayan balsam, has made its way into the wild by escaping from gardens and parks. It is now naturalised and rapidly colonises new areas, especially along riverbanks and damp ground, and has become a problem weed.

It is an annual plant which, in ideal conditions, can grow up to 3 metres tall. It has purplish to pale pink flowers in June to August. Each plant can produce up to 800 seeds, and when the seed pods mature they will explode, scattering the seeds up to 7 metres from the parent plant.

Although Himalayan balsam does produce an attractive flower, it does have serious implications on our native wildlife. It grows in tall dense clumps that prevents our own shorter native plants from getting enough light to grow underneath. This, along with the huge numbers of seeds produced can result in Himalayan balsam taking over large areas, leaving no room for our own wildflowers to survive.

Fortunately, balsam can be removed by hand, and the local schools involved in the project provided many pairs of hands! The enthusiasm and hard work of the kids soon makes a big difference in clearing the balsam from the site.

Mayor Councillor The Lord Morrow of Clogher Valley MLA, commented, “It is great to see schemes like this to help our native wildlife. What is also important is that it enables young people in our community to see and learn first hand that they can make a difference in actively managing our habitats for the future.”