T
hereis something
unsettlingaboutthe
term‘invasivenon-native
species’,asthoughthereis
somethingsinistergoing
on,andtheseplantsand
animalshavesomehow
sneakedintothecountrywhilewewere
lookingtheotherway.Butoften,nothing
couldbefurtherfromthetruth.Notonly
haveweheldthedooropenforthem,we’ve
thrownthema lavishwelcomeparty.
Plantsinparticularwereoftenbrought
inasexoticcuriositiesbythoseloversofthe
strange– theVictorians.Manystillbrighten
ourgardensquitehappily,butsomehave
takentotheirnewhomerathertoowell.
Don’tbefooledbytheseprettyflowers.In
theirownland,wheretheyevolved,natural
enemieskeeptheirnumbersincheck.But
intheUK,theyhavenosuchadversaries.Report by Andrew Gri ths
Since its arrival in the 1800s,
Himalayan balsam has taken over
many a riverbank in the UK. Could
it nally have met its match?
32 BBC Wildlife August 2020NEWS FEATURE