What is Invasive Species Week?

Invasive Species Week is a national, annual event led by the GB Non-Native Species Secretariat. It aims to raise awareness of invasive species and celebrate action in preventing their spread. 

What are invasive species? 

Invasive species are non-native species that have been intentionally or unintentionally introduced beyond their native range by humans.

Importantly, their spread threatens native biodiversity and can cause damage to the environment, the economy, our health, and the way we live.

Check out and learn about some common invasive species here!

How are they spread?

Once present in the environment, invasive species can spread naturally or by humans!

We can all easily and accidentally spread invasive species in many different ways, including in our everyday activities, such as going for a walk, gardening, or fishing.

Find out more about how you can Stop the Spread of invasive species on our biosecurity webpage!

Why are they a problem?

Invasive species have been identified as one of the five main drivers of biodiversity loss globally!

They can have many negative impacts on our environment. For example, they can compete for resources, such as light and water, predate on native species, carry new diseases, and hybridise with native species.

They also have a major economic impact. Since 1976 invasive species have been estimated to cost the UK economy between £5.4 and £13.7 billion, approximately £122 million per year! And these costs are only likely to be increasing!

What is being done to prevent this?

Find out more about these projects and all of the others we are running here!

What can I do?

There are lots of things we can all do to help tackle the threats posed by invasive species:

1. Become a citizen scientist by identifying and reporting sightings of invasive species
2. Help Stop the Spread by adopting simple biosecurity principles
3. Volunteer and help control invasive species in your local community

How to get involved in Invasive Species Week

• Join us in events across North Wales! For more information please check out our events calendar.
• Share information and experiences in tackling invasive species on social media. Please follow North Wales Wildlife Trust on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to learn about invasive species. You can also check out @InvasiveSp on Twitter and remember to use #INNSweek when posting! 
• Learn more about invasive species and test your knowledge with our invasive species quizzes!

But most of all have fun learning about invasive species, biosecurity and how you can help protect our environment.