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Non-native plants and animals can be found thriving in many parts of Europe’s countryside, waterways and coastlines. But some of these invasive species are doing irreparable harm to the habitats where they made their home. Here we look at two examples of LIFE-funded projects that are taking steps to protect important European coastal and wetland ecosystems from some particularly destructive invasive alien species.
Tackling invasive species is a key commitment in the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and in 2015, the EU introduced the Invasive Alien Species Regulation.
The Belgian LIFE DUNIAS project is attempting to remove invasive plants infesting the dunes of the Flemish coast, where they are degrading the habitat. Plant species such as Rosa rugosa, or beach rose – which is native to east Asia – can spread by 22% every year, driving out native dune plants as it does so. Dozens of others such as Mahonia aquifolium, an evergreen shrub native to western North America also known as Oregon grape and Ailanthus altissima, a tree native to China, are having a similar effect.
‘Few plants and animals thrive under invasive plants with dense foliage because sunlight cannot reach the dune sand,’ says Reinhardt Strubbe, a dune biologist at the Agency for Nature and Forest in Belgium and project coordinator for LIFE DUNIAS.
The ambitious LIFE DUNIAS project employs mechanical excavators to remove these weeds, digging up to 1 m below the dune surface to reach the deepest roots. The sand is sieved to remove any plant material before being put back on the dune.
In January 2024 work on the east coast of Belgium started by removing around 25 hectares of weeds from a section of coastline between Knokke-Heist to Ostend. This January they are continuing the work on another 30 hectares of weeds from Nieuwpoort to Koksijde and the project is due to continue until December 2026.
‘When invasive plants are removed, dune nature recovers spontaneously,’ says Strubbe.
In the Netherlands, the LIFE MICA project has been tackling invasive species of another kind – two water-loving invasive species that have become established in wetlands across Europe. Coypu and muskrats are large, semi-aquatic rodents that originate in South America and North America respectively. They feed on the roots of bulrush and reeds, destroying habitats that provide shelter for endangered species such as the Eurasian bittern and freshwater pearl mussel. The rodents also dig into dikes and quays, increasing the risk of flooding.
LIFE MICA, which was led by the Rivierenland Water Board between 2019 and 2023, saw authorities in the Netherland, Germany and Belgium cooperate on new methods to help trap these invasive rodents. They used a combination of environmental DNA testing and smart camera tracking systems to estimate coypu and muskrat populations, alongside DNA-mapping techniques to identify muskrat migration routes.
The project team also deployed 25 ‘smart traps’, which use image recognition to selectively trap coypu and muskrats before sending a text message alert to a trapper. The aim was to reduce the risk of bycatch of native species, although rising costs limited the number of traps that could be used during the project. The project partners hope to further develop and improve the traps in the future.
LIFE DUNIAS and LIFE MICA contribute to the conservation of wild flora and fauna under the EU’s Habitats Directive and the Regulation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species.
Details
- Publication date
- 30 January 2025
- Author
- European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency