Urban Invaders!

Urban areas are hotspots for invasive non-native plants. Introduced as ornamental features, many non-native plants have escaped from gardens and become established in the wild, where they out-compete native flora, choke waterways and impact our economy. 

Our new survey - Urban Invaders - aims to help improve the data quality on some of the most damaging invasive plants, including Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam and giant hogweed. 

We need YOUR help: tell us when and where you see them!

We're looking for records of six invasive plants which were imported as ornamental species for gardens and parks and have since escaped, established and started causing damage to the local environment.

The six Urban Invaders are:

• Japanese knotweed
• Himalayan balsam
• Giant hogweed
• New Zealandpigmyweed
• Floating pennywort
• Tree of Heaven

Click here to see our guide for these Urban Invaders.