It’s a fact that invasive non-native species like Himalayan balsam positively thrive in places where the balance of nature has already been thrown out of whack by human activities (not to mention the human activity of bringing them to western Europe from their native home in the Himalayas in the first place!)
This makes urban rivers, and the edgelands around them, some of the most important invasion pathways for INNS of all kinds.
And that puts urban river restorationists right on the front line.
Since 2010 or even earlier the Wandle Trust’s volunteers have been steadily pushing vast swathes of Himalayan balsam downstream from the river’s headwaters in Croydon and Carshalton, and last Sunday’s efforts were focused on Beddington Park, where Carlsberg recently filmed their latest TV ad, Kickabout.
Which meant we couldn’t help wondering, as we hunted down every last balsam plant on the banks of the Wandle under that sweltering sun…
… If Carlsberg did balsam bashing, how could they possibly do it better than this awesome lot of urban Rivers Trust volunteers?
(Photo: the Wandle Trust / Sally Ann Symis)
