Student Invasive Non-Native Group Project Coordinator Report October 2012

Nicola Morris

Student Invasive Non-Native Group Project Co-ordinator

October 2012

http://www.sinng.org.uk/

Contents

Introduction Page 3

Summary of key actions Page 4

Key developments on WFD LAG actions Page 5

Publicity Page 14

Further work Page 15

Appendix Page 16

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Introduction

SINNG has had a full diary over the last few months & enjoyed a varied programme of activities which has delivered over 3300 hours of action & awareness on invasive species. The energy & enthusiasm of the students has ensured that work has been both productive and highly enjoyable. This introduction gives snapshots of SINNG activities & details are in the rest of the report.

Ecology students working at our alpine newt sites.

Balsam pulling is popular & an excellent way to engage students, the public & collaborating organizations.

Zoological Conservation FdSc & Nuffield Science bursary students deploying Zebra mussel surveying equipment

STEM ambassadors enjoying running a SINNG school workshop

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Summary of key actions

Engagement & recruitment of students  Over 3000 volunteer hours  157 student volunteers  Engaged all new & returning students at College Newquay’s Fresher’s Fair  Engaged BSc students from Cornwall College with full cooperation from teaching staff

Identification & biosecurity workshops  Held on site & on field trips  Also held in schools with involvement of STEMNET*

Public awareness & engagement  Royal Cornwall Show  Big Bang South West  Boscastle Balsam Bash in conjunction with National Trust  Interview with Radio Cornwall  Greenpower South West  Newspaper articles

Liaison with landowners & external organisations  Farmers (approx. 25)  Garden clubs (St Juliotter Garden Club)  Garden centres (e.g. Penrose Water Garden, Puddleplants)  Wildlife groups (e.g. Cornwall Reptile & Amphibian Group (CRAG), Cornwall Wildlife Trust, Amphibian & Reptile Group UK (ARGUK), National Trust.  Angling groups (e.g., Canal Anglers, Bodmin Anglers)  Local & County Councils (e.g., Bude Town Council, Cornwall Council)  Contributing at regional & National level to discussions & planning forums (e.g. advising on management techniques currently used on a variety of species)

Practical fieldwork  Monitoring (e.g. zebra mussels, pond plants)  Clearing (Balsam at Bude, Boscastle)  Surveying (INNS & effects on native species)  Research (Trent Garner, IoZ, Richard Griffiths Uni of Kent)

Education & outreach work  SINNG STEM clubs & school workshops  Interactive events  Nuffield Bursary student placement  Attendance at Stakeholder forum, Neobiota 2012 (including display of poster paper)

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*STEMNET creates opportunities to inspire young people in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Key developments on WFD LAG actions

Engagement & recruitment of students

SINNG has had an incredibly busy summer & has increased not only its volunteer base & practical volunteer hours but also its wider integration & number of cooperating partners. Through a very successful Fresher’s Fair campaign & talks to every tutor group across all further & higher education courses at Cornwall College Newquay we have accumulated 157 registered volunteers. Our students have also been active on other Cornwall College campuses & engaged a number of students on courses at other sites.

We have accumulated 3312 volunteer hours & due to the dramatic increase in recruitment this year we expect to increase this total by continuing to expand on the work carried out previously. Our integration into modules across our courses has increased & regular workshops, lectures & practical field tasks are now carried out as a routine part of the work at the college. This has been achieved through discussions & cooperation with lecturers & programme managers to ensure that invasive species has become an integral part of courses taught at the college. Further recruitment has been possible through the STEM ambassador programme & a third training for new ambassadors will be held on site in October which will allow all of our volunteers working with young people to be fully trained & registered on the scheme.

Joint projects with the CCN Green Team have resulted in an increased work force for both groups & enabled us to reach a larger audience. Work with our European partners SINNG Helicon, at the Helicon Institute in the Netherlands, has continued & we hope to set up an exchange programme between the groups. Our profile in Europe has been enhanced through contacts made at Neobiota 2012 in Spain where a poster was presented on one of our research projects looking at public perceptions.

Identification & biosecurity workshops The identification & bio-security workshops held last year have been adapted to suit the ever increasing amount of activities which are being carried out so that these matters are taught routinely as part of our work both on site & on field trips. In conjunction with supporting the “Check, Clean, Dry” campaign the introduction of SINNG “Bio-Buckets” has been very successful with all students & staff working in watercourses taking a bucket containing a brush & Virkon Aquatic spray as part of their surveying equipment. Consultations with the other Cornwall College campuses will see the introduction of this vital bio-security measure implemented across all sites.

The development of a variety of educational games & activities has allowed us to incorporate both bio- security & identification skills into our schools workshops. The age-appropriate material ensures that the pupils across all ranges are able to fully understand & carry out basic but thorough bio-security & recognise both invasive species & those native species which they can be confused with.

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Public awareness & engagement

SINNG have been very active at our practical events engaging the public about the impacts of INNS. The Boscastle Balsam Bash was the first Himalayan balsam event of the year & led to a number of joint working parties with the National Trust throughout the season. SINNG spent a weekend in May pulling the highly invasive plant from the Valency Valley in Boscastle joining forces with the National Trust Rangers & volunteers. They made a real impact on what has become a big problem to native plants & their habitat.

Removal efforts are being concentrated upstream after identifying the source at the top of the catchment with work continuing down through the valley. As well as pulling thousands of balsam plants the students chatted with the public about what they can do to help prevent this plant from spreading further & children took part in SINNG’s invasive species games too which are great fun as well as informative.

Having visited the information stand several people stopped to talk to the volunteers pulling balsam in the river and some even helped remove some of the plants.

Dates have been set for Boscastle Balsam Bash 2013 & will be repeated over the coming years giving hope that the efforts of SINNG & the National Trust, in practical terms as well as educationally, will prove to be very effective at controlling the plant & allowing our native plants to flourish.

The Royal Cornwall Show gave SINNG volunteers the opportunity to talk with hundreds of visitors each day & provided them with information to take away on how to deal with invasive species in their gardens.

Based at the front of the Cornwall College marquee right next to the main ring we spoke to f visitors about the effects of INNS on native species & habitats & children were queuing up to come in & play our SINNG games such as pairs, Where’s The Mink Print & our own SINNG board game.

SINNG’S attendance at

6 the show gave the volunteers a fantastic opportunity to reach a huge target audience & the level of interest in the stand gave meant that our volunteers were busy throughout the 3 day event.

Greenpower, a nationwide initiative to help inspire young people to get excited about engineering, encourages schools from around the country to build electric racing cars which are then entered into races to compete at local & national level. The south west regional finals at Newquay airport in June and SINNG, invited by event coordinator Vaughan Curnow of Cornwall College Business, entertained & educated the children in between their races with our interactive invasive species games & activities.

It was great to meet up with some of the schools we have worked with previously & with 2,500 primary & secondary school pupils & their teachers attending over 2 days we reached a massive audience with our invasive species activities.

Once again SINNG took to the road at the end of June with our invasive species exhibition. This time our destination was The Big Bang South West 2012 held at Exeter University’s Streatham Campus.

This STEM event attracts more than 2000 pupils from over 75 schools across the south west and provides students with the opportunity to showcase their work & compete in competitions. As well as the schools exhibitions over 50 regional & national organisations were on hand with a variety of activities to engage & inspire young people in the four STEM subjects, science, technology, engineering & maths.

As usual SINNG’s stand was very bright & attracted a constant stream of visitors throughout the day. Queues formed & our activities proved to be a real hit with the students. It was great to find so many of the young students with a good knowledge on invasive non-native species & those who had less understanding were interested to find out about more & find

7 out how to stop the spread of these harmful invaders.

We had lots of teachers asking us to attend their schools with SINNG’s workshops & for advice on how to bring the subject to life both in & out of the classroom.

Younger children visiting with their parents gave volunteers the chance to be able to put their skills to the test in explaining our subject to a variety of audiences & age groups.

Outreach work

Our leaflets are now available at a number of garden centres in Cornwall & they are also sent out to customers of a mail order company dealing with native aquatic pond plants. We have recently formed a partnership with Penrose Water Garden, who now stock our leaflets & display the Be Plant Wise posters & we have several activities planned which include information stands, children’s activities & educational workshops.

Talks to garden clubs & community groups are on-going with a recent talk to St Juliotter Garden club providing contacts for several other groups where talks are now booked. SINNG’s work on invasive species in Bude will be the subject of a talk given to members of the Cornwall Wildlife Trust Tamar Branch.

Liaison with landowners & external organisations

Our zebra mussel research at Bude canal has led to cooperation with a number of organisations including Cornwall Council, South West Lakes Trust, Bude canal anglers & a number of local companies offering water related activities. Their cooperation has enabled us to further promote the Check, Clean, Dry campaign.

Local support has continued at our alpine newt sites with an increasing number of landowners asking us to include their ponds in our work. Collaborative work between SINNG & the Institute of Zoology, University of Kent & a number of reptile & amphibian groups such as ARGUK & Amphibian & Reptile Conservation has ensured that the work we are currently undertaking on this species is of a very high standard & has attracted high achieving students to take up research projects.

Cornwall Council, the National Trust & Cornwall Wildlife Trust continue to support SINNG & there are a number of practical clearance tasks planned throughout the coming year some of which will involve volunteers from the respective groups.

We have also been actively working with other LAG’s advising on our management techniques & sharing data with other researchers. This has allowed for more collaboration & close working partnerships.

Organisations working with SINNG: -

Cornwall Butterfly Conservation

Cornwall Reptile and Amphibian Group

Institute of Zoology 8

University of Kent

Queen Mary University of London

Cristatus Ecology

Amphibian & Reptile Group UK

Amphibian & Reptile Conservation

Bude Canal Anglers

National Trust

STEM

Cornwall Council

Cornwall Wildlife Trust

Penrose Water Garden

Japanese garden and Bonsai Nursery

Cornish Garden Nurseries

Roche Angling Club

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Practical fieldwork

Pond plants

SINNG have been successful in encouraging a local secondary school to allow the removal of Elodea canadensis from one of its school ponds. Through identification workshops & practical tasks as part of their STEM club we were able to drain the pond and remove the plant completely before allowing the pond to be refilled naturally & recolonized by native plant species. Students were very supportive & actively encouraged the school technicians to keep the plant, used for practical lab work, in a more controlled indoor environment.

Surveys at some of the ponds we have previously cleared have shown an increase in the diversity & abundance of native plants flourishing & work will continue at these sites to ensure that this trend continues.

Monitoring of some of the ponds used in our farm pond survey has also been done & ponds which need clearance have been identified. Several field trips have been booked to work with Cornwall Wildlife Trust & Cornwall Council rangers & volunteers to help remove & control a number of invasive pond plants including parrot’s feather & Nuttall’s waterweed (Elodea nuttallii).

A long term project will involve invasive pond plant clearance & the continued monitoring of their effects on native plants & invertebrates, public awareness & education. This has been made possible due to the generous cooperation of a local business. Penrose Water Gardens have opened their doors to SINNG & are working with us to help create awareness on the impacts of invasive species whilst providing the unique opportunity of having an outdoor classroom in which to teach identification skills & bio-security, carry out clearance work & run research projects which will all help to advise visitors on how best to control invasive aquatic plant species. Penrose are keen to work with SINNG to help promote the Be Plant Wise & Check, Clean Dry campaigns & promote the use of native pond plants in gardens.

Zebra mussels

Our work on the zebra mussel colony at Bude canal has continued through the summer & will run through the autumn with an on-going monitoring programme planned. Research projects have included looking at the spread & colonisation of the invasive mussels along the canal & surveying other local waterways to assess the possible vectors of transmission. Our intention is continue to map the spread of the species in this isolated watercourse & attempt a control programme using the Biobullet. Water quality testing also plays a large part in the investigations & cooperation from Cornwall College’s other campuses have allowed this testing to be carried out.

Various surveys have also been done to assess public perception & a local sixth form student gained a Nuffield Foundation Science Bursary Placement to work with SINNG throughout August. The student produced a questionnaire & after approaching various local businesses using the canal was able to conduct her survey using their customers as interviewees. We were warmly received by the

10 business owners & this partnership has led to other work such as balsam pulling in Bude marshes nature reserve with local friends group. Further collaboration between SINNG, Cornwall Council & EA has become possible & plans are being made to hold joint working parties on the ponds in the reserve to clear the highly invasive Nuttall’s waterweed (Elodea nuttallii).

Alpine newts in Fowey

After submitting the first confirmed report of Alpine newts (Ichthyosaura alpestris) in the county our work has centred on the south coast town of Fowey. We have secured the cooperation of landowners and residents and we are now undertaking research and removal of this species. We have the continued support of Dr Trent Garner, Institute of Zoology, (pictured left working with SINNG in our secure alpine newt unit) who has visited & given a talk to the students on invasive amphibian diseases as well as visiting our sites. Prof Richard Griffiths, University of Kent, has also visited & our students were fortunate enough to be accompanied by him on a field trip to our research sites. Cornwall Reptile and Amphibian Group & Amphibian And Reptile Group UK also continue to support us & this has led to confirmation that the South West Amphibian & Reptile Group will hold their annual meeting at Cornwall College Newquay next spring with the emphasis being on invasive species for some talks.

Our research has included assessing habitat suitability along with conducting water quality testing. We have also been collecting morphological data which will be used to compare with populations in other parts of the country.

Other work is looking at the public perception of invasive species in the area & the impacts of invasive amphibians on native populations. Mapping of ponds is also being carried out.

A visit to the Institute of Zoology will be made in November & recently caught newts will be taken up to Trent’s lab so he can continue with his work on chytrid testing.

Our work with other institutes on this project has led to it being very successful & is producing work of a very high standard.

Himalayan balsam

SINNG organised a very successful joint event with the National Trust in May which has led to increased volunteer activity both within SINNG & volunteers with other groups. The Boscastle Balsam Bash saw a weekend involving a public awareness campaign with volunteers talking to locals & visitors to the area about the effects of INNS to which we had a very encouraging response. Volunteers were removing balsam nearby to demonstrate how easy it is to remove with the majority of people working at the head of the catchment at the source of the invasion.

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Our monitoring of the areas we have worked at during this season have shown that our efforts have been successful in reducing the amount of balsam at the top of the catchments & in the case of our work at Bude marshes nature reserve (picture left with Gareth Cann Cornwall Council ranger & Matt Tutt SINNG volunteer) we were able to control the spread of this plant into the reed beds & intend to continue working there next year.

A student research project centred on the Camel Trail and looked at the effects of the balsam on native plant diversity. Further work will be carried out here including removal & public awareness activities.

Our strong links have enabled us to carry out a number of balsam pulling events across the county which will continue next year early in the season. We have a number of balsam pulling events involving SINNG & other groups planned for the coming year at various sites including returning to Boscastle, Bude canal, Camel Trail and St Breward.

Orange balsam

Our plans to survey the Ruthern Valley for Orange balsam (I. capensis) has been extended to include large areas of the Camel Trail with cooperation from council rangers & other volunteer groups. Previous reports of successful removal works of this species by other groups will be further investigated & as Himalayan balsam is removed from the area we will continue to monitor both the effects on native plant species & the potential for Orange balsam to return in its place. This horizon scanning approach is one we intend to implement across all removal projects in order to fully assess the impacts our efforts are having & help reduce the spread of other less invasive but currently dormant species.

Hottentot fig

Several SINNG volunteers carried out research into the hottentot fig (Carpobrotus edulis) whilst on a field trip to Portugal. Their work has led to interest from other students & we now have a BSc student from Cornwall College Camborne working with us on his 3rd year research project looking at the effects this coastal plant is having on invertebrate populations in Cornwall. Our collaboration between SINNG and Anne Osman, lead technician at Duchy College, Rosewarne, will continue & her extensive knowledge on the species will be a real asset to the project. Her work has centred on peninsula & we are now able to expand that to include Fistral Bay in Newquay on the North coast.

This is a prime example of how creating links with external organisations has proven to be very valuable. We have gained knowledge which will allow us to carry out seasonally influenced studies to see what effect the presence of this species is having on individual invertebrate species. Our awareness raising has also led to using the monoculture on the cliffs at Fistral as an excellent example of how invasions of non- native species can cause a loss in biodiversity.

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Mink

Mink raft monitoring is continuing at existing sites & id workshops are on-going. These workshops have been a useful way to encourage students to become more active in other INNS species. A student research project studied the coexistence of mink & otter at sites in Cornwall.

SINNG working with STEM

Since March SINNG volunteers, all STEM ambassadors, have worked directly with around 650 primary & secondary school pupils in a number of schools as well as reaching an even greater audience at the bigger events which pupils have attended such as Big Bang South West & Greenpower.

From our invasive & native plant identification workshops to SINNG’s matched pair’s game & board game (pictured below) we are able to adapt the workshops to suit not only the age of the pupils but also to integrate an invasive species theme relevant to the topics which they are currently working on.

After introducing some basic ideas to help explain the impacts of invasive non-native species, the young students showed a keen interest. Feedback from teachers & parents has shown that the message is getting across to them well.

A third in-house STEM ambassador training session will take place in October which will see another 25 students registered & able to work with young people to educate them on the impacts of INNS.

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Publicity

SINNG have had a number of articles & links in the media a selection of which are detailed in the links below. http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Volunteers-grips-invasive-balsam-valley/story-16227203- detail/story.html http://www.camelford-today.co.uk/news.cfm?id=18228 http://www.arguk.org/useful-links/ http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/whatson/events_pages/Talk_SINNG_Action_against_the_invasive _aliens_at_Bude http://www.cornwall.ac.uk/cc/index.php?page=shared&subpage=_Course_Finder&keyword=&pagetitle=F dSc%20Applied%20Ecology&pagetype=3&PTL=0&PTQ=0&HEF=1&CCB=0&DL=0&WBL=0&ALEVEL=0&cours ecode=100143&ucascode=&toggle=0 http://www.sinng.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/NNSS-Newsletter-3rd-Edition-07-05-Final-2.pdf http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Garden-detectives-needed-track-flatworm-invaders/story-16462705- detail/story.html

Press release in Bude & Stratton Post October 15th “Do you have aliens on your doorstep?”

Our website, Facebook group and Twitter account continue to be maintained by students: - http://www.sinng.org.uk/

SINNG Facebook Group

SINNG Twitter Account

SINNG Summer Newsletter

SINNG Autumn Newsletter

Circulated to all students & staff at Cornwall College Newquay

Latest edition of the Cornwall College STEM journal circulated to all 7 campuses throughout the county.

2 page spread detailing some of SINNG’s activities

Student profile on Kathy Troke-Thomas – SINNG research assistant

3 articles in Cornwall College Newquay News – April

1 article in Cornwall College Newquay news – May

3 articles in Cornwall College Newquay news – June

2 articles in Cornwall College Newquay news – July/ August 14

Broadcast Media

SINNG were invited to give an interview for BBC Radio Cornwall to help publicise the Boscastle Balsam Bash & were able to talk for several minutes outlining the planned event & also the impacts of invasive species on native flora & fauna. http://audioboo.fm/boos/818628-sinng-boscastle-interview-part-one http://audioboo.fm/boos/818629-sinng-boscastle-interview-part-two?playlist_direction=forward

Further work

Biological recording workshop

Through attendance at various invasive species workshops & forums around the country we have forged strong links with a number of experts in their field who are involved with the management of a number of recording databases. One result of this contact is that we have organised a biological recording workshop at Cornwall College Newquay & will focus heavily on invasive species recording. We have secured the services of leading biologists such as Helen & David Roy, Dave Kilbey, Jon Cranfield as well as a number of local experts. The workshop has received an enormous amount of interest & we hope to be able to offer other courses on invasive species identification & management. By linking the workshop to other funded projects running at Cornwall College Newquay we were able to offer the recording workshop free of charge.

Marsh frogs

Cornwall Reptile and Amphibian group have asked us to investigate the presence of Marsh frogs Pelophylax ridibundus in the Newquay area & this project will now be run as an integral part of our ecology courses as well as extracurricular activities. We have the full support of our local ARG as well as Jon Cranfield, vice chair of Amphibian and Reptile Group UK.

Chinese mitten crab

SINNG are keen to research the potential for invasion by the Chinese mitten crab (Eriocheir sinensis) & with the horizon scanning approach we are adopting across all our work we are very keen to involve stakeholder groups to work with us on this. Our FdSc Marine Conservation lecturers are particularly supportive of research in this area.

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Appendix (Sample of SINNG’s media exposure)

Article in Cornish Guardian

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Article in Cornish & Devon Post

Article in Bude & Stratton Post September 2012

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Article in Cornwall College STEM journal Autumn edition