 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NATURE
|
 |
|
 |
MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME INFO |
|
|
|
|
|
Nature offers a window on global natural history, providing a unique insight into the natural world, the environment, and the magnificent creatures that inhabit it.
nhuradio@bbc.co.uk |
|
|
|
|
LISTEN AGAIN 30 min |
|
|
|
 |
PRESENTER |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
"Nature is full of surprises, so the programme can investigate fascinating and challenging areas in
our relations with the natural world without being too technical or preachy. My job is brilliant because, as a link between the listener and the subject, I can discover new information and ideas which help people make up their own minds on important issues."
Paul Evans |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PROGRAMME DETAILS |
|
|
|
 |
|
| Is ivy really causing problems? |
The Native Plants are Restless
In this week's Nature, Paul Evans grapples with some of our most threatening and thereatened plants.
It's been estimated by DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), that it would cost over £1.5 billion to remove the alien plant Japanese Knotweed from our countryside. Thanks to graphic stories in the media, this plant is Public Enemy No.1 and it's in good company. Other escapees from gardens that have settled here include Himalayan Balsam, New Zealand Water Stonecrop and Water Fern and they're traditionally blamed for ousting our native plants.
But now some botanists maintain that many of our native plants as causing even more damage, while we've been dealing with the aliens. Bracken, ivy and bramble are invading old meadows, heaths and limestone grassland and shading out the tender plants which grow there.
Which are the real culprits and how do we prioritise in dealing with them?
As he attempts to answer these questions Paul travels to the cliffs of south Devon, the heaths of Cannock Chase in Staffordshire and grapples with Japanese Knotweed in a Welsh valley.
|
|
|
RELATED LINKS
BBC Science & Nature
Plantlife
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites
|
|
|
|
|
|
