Recording Invasive Species Counts
Under the NBN’s contract with Defra on 22nd March we launched Recording Invasive Species Counts (RISC), a project to engage the public in monitoring invasive non-native species.
The aim of this project is to build on the success of the Harlequin Ladybird project, which has been successful, primarily, because of the involvement of the public and volunteers in registering their sightings and which helps to gather valuable information on the distribution of the species.
The Harlequin Ladybird is only one of many non-native Species now in the UK. This project has selected six other invasive non-natives with which to engage the public and which allows them to record their sightings online.
A key aspect of the project has also been to work with national societies and schemes in terms of their involvement in the project and the suitability of the shortlisted species.
The six species included in the project are:
Muntjac
Water primrose
Chinese Mitten Crab
Tree-of-Heaven
American Skunk Cabbage
Zebra Mussel
The launch took place at the Linnean Society of London on Monday 22nd March. Presentations were given by Huw Thomas (Defra), Helen Roy (Biological Records Centre, Centre of Ecology & Hydrology) and Peter Brown (Anglia Ruskin University and RISC Coordinator). The press interest has been fantastic.
We have already received mention in the March issue of CountryFile magazine in a feature they ran on Non-Natives with fuller mention on their website.
Find out more about all the species involved in this project, including distribution maps and fact sheets by going to our specially created RISC page – take a look!
This project supplements the larger non-natives project, Great Britain’s Non Native Species Information Portal, that runs under the Non Native Species Secretariat (NNSS) – www.nonnativespecies.org – which is responsible for Great Britain’s strategy on non-natives.
Please visit the Non Native Species website to find out more about non-natives in Britain and to start recording for the RISC project!
Looking to get more involved in identifying and recording wildlife?
If you get involved in RISC and enjoy looking for non-native species, you may become interested in recording other wildlife. If so, then you should take a look at iSpot? iSpot is a website aimed at helping anyone identify anything in nature. It will also be a great resource in helping you to identify the non-natives you encounter.
Once you’ve registered, you can add an observation to the website and suggest an identification yourself or see if anyone else can identify it for you. Sound like fun? Take a look and get more involved in recording wildlife today!