Meeting of the Parliament 31 October 2024
Absolutely—Minnigaff. I cannot call it Newton Stewart. It is definitely Minnigaff.
The term INNS—invasive non-native species—is not restricted to plant species; it can cover plants, animals and fungi. In areas that INNS conolise—I cannot even say the word; it is “colonise”—the negative impacts range from damage to the ecosystem and reduction in biodiversity to disruption to human activities and, more worrying, damage to our health.
For the past two years, the Galloway Fisheries Trust in my constituency has been running a control programme that covers the whole of Dumfries and Galloway, apart from the River Nith. It was initially supported by the nature restoration fund before funding was cut, even though it scored highly and NatureScot was keen to support it. Thankfully, the programme has now secured funding for the next three years from the National Lottery and Kilgallioch wind farm community trust. The project, which is called the Scottish Solway invasive non-native species control and knowledge programme, has been delivering strategic and co-ordinated control of American skunk cabbage, Japanese knotweed and giant hogweed, as well as some limited Himalayan balsam control. It does that by working with local communities and stakeholders. Having initially controlled the INNS and got them to a manageable level, stakeholders are now encouraged to make long-term commitments to control the species. The Galloway Fisheries Trust is prioritising that work because it is clear that INNS are having serious biodiversity impacts on local habitats and ecology, particularly around fresh water.
If we are to get anywhere near our ambitions to reverse biodiversity loss, it is critical that adequate funding is provided to support INNS control programmes across the country. The Scottish Government needs to help. I will give an example from my own patch—which is probably at the bottom of Christine Grahame’s old garden. The Galloway Fisheries Trust has raised concerns with Amey, the trunk road maintenance company, that knotweed is rife along the A75 and that control has been undertaken, even though it is a notifiable plant and INNS control is supposed to be a Scottish Government priority. The Galloway Fisheries Trust has now surveyed the A75 from Stranraer to Castle Douglas and mapped all the knotweed. On completion of that work, Amey agreed that it will undertake the necessary control from this year.
As we have already heard, the prevention, surveillance, eradication and control of invasive non-native species in Scotland has been inconsistent and, sadly, best practice has not always been followed. Historically, Scotland has suffered a high level of nature and biodiversity loss and, unless we get our act in gear, we will face further species loss in the future. Invasive non-native species remain one of the top drivers of overall biodiversity loss in Scotland and I am sure that members will agree that that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
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