MoD to spend £3m on decontaminating Derry's Fort George site

The Ministry of defence are spending £3m to decontaminate the site from heavy oils, diesels, heavy metals and Japanese knotweed.

"A plant that needs to be disposed of along with the hazardous waste is also present on the site."

"Japanese knotweed can be dealt with and will be dealt with," Mr McCullough said.

"It will be sifted and burnt. "It's a painstaking operation, but if it's left untreated it can return and undermine foundations of the buildings and cause considerable damage to buildings in the future."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-12756767

Check, Clean, Dry

The GB Non-native Species Secretariat have launched their campaign to stop the spread of invasive plants and animals in British waters.

https://secure.fera.defra.gov.uk/nonnativespecies/index.cfm?sectionid=98

Botanical gardens an age old culprit in the spread of invasive plants...

Evidence suggests that botanic gardens play a part in the spread of invasive alien species, which have escaped from collections, a study has concluded. The paper's author says garden managers need to focus on assessing the risk of potentially invasive plants escaping. The findings will appear in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Read the rest of the article on the BBC news website. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12849021

Japanese knotweed in your garden...

These storys are from early last year but still as relevant today I'm sure...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertynews/7436431/Mortgages-refused-over-invasive-weed.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/7768301/Homeowner-turned-down-for-mortgage-due-to-Japanese-Knotweed-in-garden.html

The burs and the bees

White butterbur flowering in Glenurquhart today, 1st March.

White butterbur Petasites albus is found locally in UK, and is most frequent in east Scotland.

When bees start to emerge from their hives on sunny days in late winter, they may find few flowers for feeding. These white butterbur flowers were popular with early bees and flies.