Islay & Jura Invasive Plant Eradication Project

Aim

We're raising £20,000 to kick start our eradication of invasive Japanese Knotweed and Gunnera, promoting the biodiversity of Islay and Jura

Here on the beautiful Hebridean islands of Islay and Jura, we are working to protect and maintain the incredible biodiversity of our natural habitats. Our aim is to deliver an eradication plan for invasive Japanese Knotweed and Gunnera (Giant rhubarb) and Himalayan Balsam plants, which pose a significant threat to our unique environment.

These invasive plants can quickly outcompete native species, harming the delicate balance of our island ecosystems. By tackling them, we're helping to safeguard the habitats that are home to so much of Islay and Jura's precious wildlife. Your support will directly fund the essential work needed to remove these plants and help our natural environment thrive.

On Jura, the natural coastal habitat in Craighouse is becoming increasingly dominated by Knotweed and the streams, including the Craighouse Ravine SSSI, has an increasing encroachment of Gunnera.  On both islands natural grasslands and peatland areas are seeing Gunnera plants appearing from seed dispersal by birds.  

Please support our project and share our story with others to help protect these special islands. We are the Islay Natural History Trust (SCIO), a registered charity with OSCR, charity number SC049310 (formerly Islay Natural History Trust SC013713). We are a local charity based in Port Charlotte and have been actively promoting all aspects of natural history on Islay for 42 years.

Project details

In 2023 we received funding from the Botanist Foundation to identify and map the main invasive plants Japanese Knotweed, Gunnera (Giant Rhubarb) and Himalayan Balsam across Islay and Jura. In 2024 funding was received to cost the eradication work from a professional mainland company which estimated costs at around £50k per island.   In 2025 the Neighbourhood Ecosystem Fund funded development of a locally delivered eradication plan and specialist pesticide training to upskill 6 local professionals from different areas of the islands as local representatives to deliver the treatment works. Chemical treatment is necessary especially for Knotweed and with no provision locally for disposal, manual clearing of Gunnera is not an option for us.  Roundup ProVantage is our chosen chemical due to its relative low impact on the natural environment with the targeted approach of injection treatment planned.

There are only a minimal number of people willing and with the time needed to volunteer for such an undertaking it is therefore not a task suited to volunteers alone. 

Our island communities are fully behind the project and keen to do their part to help clear plants and see their villages free of these non-native plants. Our specialist local team just needs the funds to start the process.  Your support will provide funds to pay for our team's valuable time, purchase of the appropriate chemicals and enable us to start the treatment process this autumn, (the key time for effective treatment). It will also show community backing is there for the project which will unlock further support as we seek support from other funders over the next 5 years required to continue and maintain the ongoing work  to achieve complete eradication..

Careful appraisal of the locations, time and volumes of herbicide required has calculated that there is a requirement for approximately £10k for Jura and £13.5k for a full treatment of Islay locations in the first year with incremental drops in the subsequent 4 years but overall £70k to cover the full programme.  

There are new locations being reported and it may take more factoring these into the programme.  These costs are based on local people taking charge of delivering the programme to cut costs of using outside contractors and keeping the funds local.

If the full target is not reached at least a start can be made to prove our commitment as a community and to funders that the project is worth backing. Funds received through the crowdfund process will be divided up equally between both islands some priority will be given to Knotweed since this can be a 4-5 year process to fully treat and eradicate, as well as Gunnera from areas that have shown seed spread will also be targeted.  

Invasive Plant Mapping Reports

The 2023 mapping reports for Islay and Jura can be accessed via our website www.islaynaturalhistory.org/resources  

The Islay Natural History Trust

The Islay Natural History Trust is a small local charity run by a small team of volunteer trustees with a passion for showing the wonderful natural biodiversity that Islay supports for the last 42 years.  We achieve these core goals through a very informative and interactive visitor centre based in Port Charlotte and outreach walks, talks and hands-on exploration to all corners of the islands for families and school children.   

Over the last 10 years we have been developing more survey and research work to actively understand and effect change where possible to the wider natural environment.  The situation of invasive plants threatens to become a greater issue for the island's natural environment.  It has been our goal to raise awareness and community backing to eradicate these invasive plants Gunnera in particular is getting to a situation that if no action is taken now we could lose the ability to effect control in certain areas.

We have recently adopted a small nature area where an invasive pond weed (Floating Pennywort) has become established and spent the winter pulling out rafts of the plant helped by 23 volunteers (7 regulars), continued work to keep it clear is ongoing. This story can be viewed on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/t5lrdqw43jo?si=dNpzowhtpeUXQ_4z

We are committed to establishing a volunteer base to maintain and keep our islands clear of threats to the native habitats and ecosystems. However Japanese Knotweed and Gunnera require effective chemical treatment which requires trained operatives and cannot be achieved through volunteer effort alone.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 30th September 2026 at 1:12pm