Councillors back bid to tackle giant hogweed problems in River Eden

The ten-foot tall giant is choking the Kingdom’s River Eden, and is likely to stick around to at least 10-15 years - even with investment - according to Dallas Seawright, the Trust’s conservation manager.

Mr Seawright secured support from the North East Area committee this week as the group seeks approximately £200,000 from the Scottish Government's Nature Restoration Fund.

Although the Trust has worked to eradicate the dangerous, destructive and proliferate hogweed from 16 kilometres of River Eden, he said more needs to be done.

“These plants are adversely affecting the river ecology and have potential to spread up and down stream from their current extent,” Mr Seawright said.

“To control hogweed in particular we’re looking at a 10-15 year process because that’s how long the seed bank can last for.”

Giant hogweed is an invasive, non-native species of plant that poses substantial risk to people. Chemicals in the plant’s sap can cause extreme sensitivity to the sun causing blistering, burning and long lasting scars. Conservations across the UK have been battling the ten-foot tall giant for years.

The issue isn’t unique to Fife or the River Eden. However, for the past eight years, the Trust has been spraying hogweed, targeting the invasive species and chopping down flowers before they can bloom.

“We’re going into our ninth year of treatment and we’re seeing a significant reduction in the number of plants we’re seeing there,” Mr Seawright said.

However, one flower head can release as many as 20,000 seeds, and the seeds can lie dormant for more than a decade.

“We have spent a great number of hours in the Cupar area, but as long as there are plants upstream, we’re going to continue to see reinfestation,” he continued.

The Nature Restoration funding would take in 46 kilometres of the Eden and allow the Trust to undertake approximately £200,000 of invasive plant eradication and nature restoration work.

The Trust plans to link in with other projects as well and engage with farmers and landowners along the banks of the Eden to improve the overall river quality.

“If the funding bid is unsuccessful we’ll put in as much work as possible, but the rest of the river will continue to be infested. The best outcome if we secure the bid is a vibrant living river with biodiversity.”

The committee agreed to endorse the funding application with a letter of support.