| | Invasive plants are everyone's business
At the recent Alberta Invasive Plant Council (AIPC) workshop in Red Deer, the message that invasive plants are threatening the integrity and economic value of Alberta's ecosystems came through loud and clear. Invasive plants displace native plants, reduce biodiversity, damage wildlife habitat, decrease land productivity and diminish aesthetic values.
The 140 participants came from across Alberta and represented a broad range of interests, from federal, provincial and municipal governments, NGOs, and industry to various interest groups including a local Calgary school initiative. Workshop presentations, posters and tradeshow displays provided an overview of AIPC, the threat of invasive plants, and current federal and provincial initiatives to address this threat. Speakers from BC and Alberta addressed innovative collaborative management projects and how they are achieving success.
“One of our objectives was to expand participation to include our urban partners, and we were successful,” says Kim Nielsen, AIPC Co-Chair and Agricultural Fieldman for the Clearwater County. We also saw increasing interest from various government departments, from field staff to department heads. “The new people we touched through the workshop was a real bonus and I think we achieved what we had set out to do. We hope participants will go home from the workshop with renewed enthusiasm for putting together their summer program.”
AIPC plans to build on initial success by strengthening its focus on ‘working together’ and meeting its goals to foster partnerships, improve awareness and access to information and to act as a liaison between the various partners. “Through our communication plan and various projects, we intend to expand our efforts for invasive plants awareness and management over the next year,” explains Mike Undershultz, AIPC Co-Chair, and Forest Health Officer with Sustainable Resource Development.
One of the special projects is a joint signage program for invasive plants, an expansion of a southern Alberta regional initiative. “We want to develop a consistent template for signage for all stakeholders, government, industry and NGOs, to use at staging areas, kiosks, parks or special sites,” says Undershultz.
Invasive Plants Are Everyone’s Business
“Invasive plants are many people’s business and we need to work together,” says Undershultz. “We’re working with other departments and various resource companies to tackle large infestations. However, it’s a slow process and will take time for people to be comfortable sharing dollars and resources.” Undershultz noted that Edi Torrans’ presentation about BC was a good model of how these types of projects can work and the hurdles and challenges that have to be overcome to achieve success.
“There is a role for everyone working in the field with invasive plants,” says Nielsen. For example, for AESA (Alberta Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture) rural extension program staff, invasive plants have a good fit in terms of environmental stewardship. “One of the important areas is the understanding of the impact of invasive plants on riparian health and biodiversity.” As field staff, honing our skills and knowledge for identifying both good and undesirable species of riparian grasses and shrubs is important, as well as learning more about their management and control.
“We’re recognizing that next to habitat loss, invasive species have the potential to have the most harmful impact on biodiversity,” adds Dr. Chris Shank, Provincial Biodiversity Specialist with Fish and Wildlife. “The more land disturbance we have, the more opportunity invasive plants have to invade, making the long term outlook for biodiversity quite worrying.” Shank is a scientific advisor to the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Program (ABMP), which is designed to provide the most objective large-scale picture of the invasive species situation in Alberta.
“The program is expected to be fully implemented in 2007,” says Shank. “The protocols have been reviewed by the scientific community and are considered to be the best approach for a really fast assessment for a large number of species. “Over time, the information will provide a broad overview of general trends, distribution and status of invasive species,” explains Shank. “In the future, AIPC and other stakeholders will be able to use this information in their awareness and management planning.” (http://www.abmp.arc.ab.ca)
One other exciting initiative for AIPC is host of the North American Weed Management Association’s (NAWMA) 2006 Annual Conference, September 17 to 19 in Calgary. Find out more about AIPC, invasive plants, upcoming events and links to stakeholders and other resources, at www.invasiveplants.ab.ca
For more information, contact Marion Jones. |
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