Volunteers tackle invasive plant species in Oxfordshire

Local people are being invited to help Oxfordshire’s freshwater wildlife by joining a new volunteer programme to map invasive non-native plants. Volunteers will focus on Himalayan Balsam, which has now been found along significant stretches of the rivers Thames and Ock, and many of their tributaries.

A new project, led by Freshwater Habitats Trust and funded by Thames Water, will map invasive plants across the Ock catchment, helping target future action to reduce their impact on freshwater wildlife. 

Trained volunteers will carry out surveys across the catchment, helping to check and update existing records while identifying new locations. This information will be used to develop targeted action plans to control their spread, working with local landowners. 

The Ock Invasive Non-Native Species project focuses on the Ock catchment, which includes the River Ock and its surrounding streams, ponds and wetlands, south of Oxford. Freshwater Habitats Trust hosts the River Ock Catchment Partnership, a group of organisations that protects and restores freshwater and wetland habitats across the catchment. 

Oxfordshire is one of Freshwater Habitats Trust’s Important Freshwater Landscapes, identified because of its rich network of rivers, floodplain wetlands and ponds. The charity is working with local partners to restore and reconnect these habitats as part of its national strategy to build the Freshwater Network, creating wilder, wetter, more connected landscapes for freshwater wildlife. 

Freshwater Habitats Trust Community Engagement Officer Lizzie Every said: “Invasive non-native species can have a significant impact on freshwater habitats and wildlife, but to tackle this problem we first need to know where they are.