Our 2023 infographic has now been released, summarising our project achievements and the contributions of our wonderful volunteers, dedicated staff and project partners!

The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative achieved a great deal in 2023 - all with the help of our wonderful volunteers and the support of our fantastic project partners. In total, volunteers contributed an incredible 2,783 volunteer days to the Initiative - equivalent to 13 full time people working on the project!

Last year was the sixth year of the project and the first year in Phase 2, where we extended plant control efforts further downstream in many catchments. 199 volunteers undertook invasive plant control and collectively contributed 450 volunteer days. Together we treated 982 km of river length for giant hogweed; injected (equivalent to) 175,755 stems of Japanese knotweed; and undertook 104 Himalayan balsam pulling days. In addition, 37 of our volunteers gained formal qualifications - including safe use of pesticides and outdoor first aid training.

Overall we covered a greater river length than ever before to treat giant hogweed and three times as many Japanese knotweed stems were injected as our previous record of 59,905 in 2019! 

Our extensive mink network was maintained by 245 dedicated volunteers, collectively contributing 2,333 volunteer days to monitor 434 rafts and traps. Their hard work led to 106 mink captures across the project area, helping to reduce the density of this invasive non-native predator and protect vulnerable native wildlife.

In addition, 52 walks and talks were delivered and events attended reaching 2,691 people; our dedicated staff and partners delivered 68 educational sessions to 2,019 school and college students; and our 'Alien Detectives' resources were used in 46 schools.

Last but certainly not least - we held a successful 'end of project' conference to celebrate the end of Phase 1 of the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative. Thank you to everyone who attended! And thank you to everyone who has been involved at any time in the project - our work would not be possible without your help.

The 2023 infographic - and those from previous years - can also be viewed here alongside text summaries.