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 2 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 3 Summary of key actions Engagement & recruitment of students Over 3000 volunteer hours 157 student volunteers Engaged all new & returning students at Cornwall College Newquay’s Fresher’s Fair Engaged BSc students from Cornwall College Camborne 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., Bude 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) 4 *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. 5 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