Consider for a moment the koan “Where does the camel belong?” If you thought Arabia, you’re wrong. The first camels came from Ellesmere Island millions of years ago.
This is the title of a recent book in the library encapsulating studies in Europe on invasive weeds. Like the title, it begs us to re-evaluate what is invasive and what is migratory out of necessity or opportunity.
The plans for the RDCK and Nelson city to heighten their war on weeds with more fines, chemicals, and other programs may be totally unnecessary and outright harmful to struggling pollinators, various birds species, and water courses. The European studies show that most invasive weeds over a period of years fold into the local ecosystems and increase biodiversity, not diminish it.
Knotweed may be the exception. But I have noted that the pine siskins really enjoy the tansy seeds in winter. A bee keeper I know finds knapweed flowers make wonderful honey and provide nectar for the bees in the hot dry season. The Himalayan blackberry provides shelter and food for many critters including people. Dandelions are beneficial on many levels, and so the list goes on.
I recommend that the government agencies responsible for intensifying the warfare against local “weeds” read the aforementioned book/studies and avoid getting trapped in a knee-jerk, costly reaction to plants and systems that affront our social sensibilities.
Since hundreds of species are going extinct in this present Anthropocene period, intentionally invoking chemical warfare against plants and insects we don’t like needs to stop. Science has shown that given time and acceptance of natural processes, nature will adapt. And yes, it is often scary because things seem to get worse before they heal. But war is no solution to anything — drugs, weeds, poverty, political dissidents, or Russians.
Claudette Burton
Balfour