The forever war on 'non-native' plants

Title: The forever war on 'non-native' plants

[A summary from Conservation Sense and Nonsense 9 Sept 2024] -- Conservation Sense and Nonsense began in 2010 to defend urban forests in the San Francisco Bay Area that were being destroyed because they are predominantly 'non-native'. Conservation Sense and Nonsense shifted the focus toward the science that informed opposition to that destruction.

Since 2010, Conservation Sense and Nonsense have learned more about the ideology of invasion biology that spawned the native plant movement and the “restoration” industry that attempts to eradicate 'non-native' plants and trees, usually using herbicides. We have read scores of books and studies that find little scientific evidence in support of the hypotheses of invasion biology. We have studied the dangers of pesticides and the growing body of evidence of the damage they do to the environment and all life.

California's Invasive Spartina Project is one of many “restoration” projects that have been applying herbicides for 20 years or more. And the Invasive Spartina Project has secured State funding to continue spraying herbicides for another 10 years. Spraying herbicides on public lands has created stable, life-long employment for an army of weed warriors.

In California, virtually all (89%) of herbicide applicators are spraying herbicides in “natural areas”—which we assume are wildlands—where no attempt has been made to plant native plants. Most projects are more destructive than they are constructive. Nearly 50% of herbicide applicators are spraying in public parks. 70% of herbicide applicators spray in “restoration areas,” presumably to sustain the native plants that were planted. If they are using non-selective herbicides, such as glyphosate and imazapyr, they are probably killing native plants too.

Cal-IPC’s survey of “restoration” practitioners confirms our observations of their efforts in the past 25 years in the San Francisco Bay Area:

Attempts to eradicate non-native plants are a Forever War that has poisoned our public lands without eradicating non-native plants or restoring native vegetation, in most cases.
The war is futile because it is attempting to stop evolution, which is trying to help flora and fauna adapt to the changing climate and environment. Humans cannot stop evolution, nor should we try. The Forever War is a losing battle against evolution, which has sustained life on Earth for 3.7 billion years, without human “assistance.”
The plants that we are trying to kill are also adapting to the poisonous war we pointlessly wage against them. They have evolved and will continue to evolve resistance to the poisons we spray on them. Herbicides are less effective than they were 40 years ago and they will be continuously less effective.
We are poisoning ourselves and other animals in our futile attempt to kill the plants that feed them. Claims that wildlife eat only native plants is a fiction and a lie that sustains an industry with vested economic interests in that myth.
Many pesticide applicators are not properly trained or they are not following legally mandated instructions for pesticide applications on product labels. They are hurting themselves when they don’t wear legally required personal protection equipment. They are hurting the environment and everyone who lives in it when they use too much pesticide because they have not calibrated their applications as required by the product label. When they don’t post pesticide application notices in advance of their applications, they deprive the public of the opportunity to protect themselves by avoiding the area. Even when they do, such signs would not be helpful to wildlife.
The money that is wasted on this Forever War could be used to address a multitude of other pressing needs.

Read the entire article here

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Article: WeedsNews6174 (permalink)
Categories: :WeedsNews:recreational impacts, :WeedsNews:restoration, :WeedsNews:prevention, :WeedsNews:reserves, :WeedsNews:biological control
Date: 28 September 2024; 9:33:38 AM AEST

Author Name: David Low
Author ID: adminDavid