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<p>The Government recognises the threats posed by invasive non-native species including
Japanese knotweed and has a comprehensive Great Britain Non-native Species Strategy
designed to tackle these threats, the first of its kind in Europe.</p><p> </p><p>Local
Action Groups, with support from the Government, are actively involved in reducing
and eradicating Japanese knotweed. Increasing public awareness of the species and
what can be done about it is an important part of tackling the problems caused by
Japanese knotweed. To that aim, we launched the first Invasive Species Week in 2015,
to bring together a wide range of organisations to raise awareness of invasive non-native
species, to highlight work going on to tackle them and to inspire people to get involved
and help prevent their spread. Invasive Species Week has gone from strength to strength,
with eight administrations taking part in 2019 and 93 events held.</p><p> </p><p>Defra
continues to fund a biocontrol programme through the release of a psyllid insect to
tackle Japanese knotweed. The Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International
(CABI) is working to establish the highly specific psyllid <em>Aphalara itadori</em>
in the UK and a population of climatically suitable psyllids from Japan is being studied
in CABI’s quarantine in Surrey. It is hoped this will be the key to unlocking the
potential of this agent to reduce the effort and cost of managing Japanese knotweed
and its invasive capacity. Research is also underway to evaluate a leaf-spot fungus
for use as a mycoherbicide.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has developed guidance on
how to prevent the spread of Japanese knotweed, which can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-japanese-knotweed-from-spreading</a></p>
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