Protecting Peatlands of Invasive Alien Aquatic Species

ongoing

The Natura 2000 areas Weerribben and De Wieden (NL) are threatened by invasive alien aquatic species (IAAS) especially the presence of Cabomba caroliniana, Myriophyllum heterophyllum, Lagarosiphon major, Myriophyllum aquiticum and Hydrocotyle ranuncoloides is very alarming. These species spread around quckly in the area due to intensive use of the waterways, mainly by the intensive boating that takes place in the area by a.o. tourist vessels. This leads to loss of wildlife in vulnerable habitats in especially H3140, H3150 and H7140A/B. In the project partners work to prevent an uncontrollable situation for the future considering the invasive aquatic alien species and to protect individual habitats as well as the natural succession of habitat types in De Wieden and Weerribben. Cooperation is crucial to achieve a controllable situation. This will be done by jointly developing an integrated approach targeted at: 1. Machinal and manual removal of IAAS in infected areas, so that IAAS are controlled, the areal of protected habitats is not diminished and coverage of IAAS are reduced to max 2% coverage. With this coverage maintenance by only manual removal will be possible again. 2. Best practise pilots in peat pits to investigate the best options for IAAS control while protecting land conversion processes. 3. Limiting and preventing the spread of IAAS by raising awareness and activating tourists and the tourist sector; leading to a situation in which 67% of the visiting tourists are aware the IAAS in the area and know what to do to prevent spreading. Based on the developed integrated approach partners will sign a long-term governance strategy that ensures the sustainable cooperation of site-based water and nature management and engaged stakeholders. The project’s IAAS removal actions and approaches can serve as a model for replication for control of IAAS in other low land peat areas.