Appeal for more funds to combat invaders

Emily Beament explains why conservationists are claiming British wildlife is facing increasing threats

- Peter Byrne

LESS than 1% of the Government's biosecurity budget goes on combating invasive species, despite the danger they pose to British wildlife, new figures suggest.

Conservationists warned the funding to tackle non-native plants and animals was failing to match the risk they posed to “cherished” native species, from water voles to ladybirds, as well as to waterways, homes, businesses and local green spaces.

They have called for more resources for border checks to stop non-native species arriving here, and funding for local groups to tackle the problem on the ground.

A Freedom of Information request to the Animal and Plant Health Agency by Wildlife and Countryside Link (WCL) shows only £2.47 million of the estimated £250 million biosecurity budget was going to tackling invasive species.

Just £250,000 of that was being channelled to local groups tackling non-native species on the ground — which range from Himalayan balsam and floating pennywort choking waterways to rhododendrons and giant blackberries strangling woodlands and grasslands, conservationists said.

The figures also show £22.7 million of the wider biodiversity budget - around 3% of the spend on protecting important habitats and species - was spent on tackling invasive species.