Illegal Immigrants Are Invading the Countryside
Posted on: Saturday, 2 July 2005, 15:00 CDT
THEIR names are exotic, they hail from foreign climes, and they could threaten Scotland's native ecology.
Thirteen species of terrestrial and aquatic plants were yesterday added to a legislative hitlist, making it an offence to spread them in the Scottish countryside.
Among the plants singled out under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 are the water hyacinth, the fewflowered leek and the Australian swamp stonecrop.
They join predators like giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed and several types of seaweed.
Once in the environment, they compete with native species and suffocate aquatic life.
Rhona Brankin, deputy minister for the environment, said:
"Invasive species are a serious threat to both global biodiversity and Scotland's unique natural environment."
It is now a criminal offence to spread the 13 problem plants, with penalties including heavy fines or jail sentences.
Source: Herald, The; Glasgow (UK)
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