CUMBRIA continues the war against invasive species with the announcement of a new initiative in Eden.

Fighting Himalayan balsam, Japanese knot-weed, giant hogweed, the American signal crayfish and a parasite of fish called Gyro-dactylus salaris is the Eden Invasive Species Group.

The scheme’s first aims are to get volun-teers together to dis-cover the extent of the problem and ways it can be tackled, which will be discussed at a meeting in Newbiggin Hall near Stainton on Thursday, December 2, from 10am to 1pm.

“This is something we’ve wanted to do for quite some time,” said Eden Rivers Trust dir-ector Simon Johnson.

“The risks are huge. These invasive plants outcompete our native flora but there are also economic risks with things like Japanese knotweed because it can affect and under-mine infrastructure. The bill for clearing knotweed around the Olympic village is costing several million pounds for instance.”

Eden Rivers Trust is working with Natural England and Cumbria Freshwater Invasive Non-native Species Ini-tiative to co-ordinate and help get rid of invasive species.

Himalayan balsam, Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed are the three plants caus-ing most concern to Eden Rivers Trust vol-unteers. These occur particularly on river banks and have nega-tive impacts on local wildlife, farming and recreation. Himalayan balsam smothers nat-ive plants, leaving river banks bare and vulnerable to erosion. Japanese knotweed is extremely vigorous and rapidly takes over vast areas, while giant hogweed is a health hazard as it contains toxic sap which can cause severe burns.

Scientists also fear that the American signal crayfish will enter the Eden River catchment because of the plague they pass on to native white-clawed crayfish, as well as fish parasites called Gyro-dactylus salaris. They are found in Scandin-avia and other parts of Europe, and cause a serious fish disease called Gyrodactylosis which infects fresh-water fish.

This disease is one of the biggest threats to the wild salmon popul-ation in the UK and has the potential to cause widespread loss-es in the UK’s valuable stocks of both wild and farmed freshwater Atlantic salmon.

To book your place at the event email alison @edenriverstrust.org.uk, or call the trust on 01768 866788.