According to the definition by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, "invasive plant species are species that have spread to a new area with human help, either unintentionally or intentionally." Harmful invasive species threaten biodiversity in Finland as well, and they can have both economic and health-related side effects.
The aim of controlling invasive and potentially harmful non-native species is to safeguard native nature and endangered species, as well as to prevent other harm caused by invasive plant species.
In the Vibrant Espoo action plan, identified occurrences of invasive plant species are controlled both by the city's Green Unit and through voluntary work.
Instructions
The control of invasive species depends on the species. For example, Himalayan balsam can be controlled independently by following these instructions:
If you spot an occurrence of an invasive species, you can report it to Espoo's Green Unit in the Crowdsorsa mobile game, where players mark their observed occurrences in Espoo on a map. A reward is paid for each observation. Only larger sites located within the city area are included in the mapping. These will be visible in the Crowdsorsa application. The application is in English, but the instructions are in Finnish. https://crowdsorsa.com/
A week later, an invasive species control task will also open in the game, to which the found occurrences to be weeded will be added. The game determines the amount of the reward based on the size of the area weeded.
Independent eradication of wild alien species is legal, and the city encourages it. Pull or weed the plant with its roots in May or early June before the plant flowers. Depending on the site, control is carried out by hand-weeding or by mowing with a scythe/trimmer.
Control is repeated twice during the season to detect individuals that have germinated later or gone unnoticed in the first weeding.
