Pat Lifeten

Issue:Japanese knotweed is a species with very high breeding capacity, just a one centimetre big root stock is sufficient to generate a new specimen. As a “foreign” species to this habitat, its presence in this natural environment is considered as “floristic pollution”. This plant impede the growing of other species, it increases the bank’s erosion, and destabilizes the river flows because of its thick root network.

Species:Japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) was brought to Europe as a plant for decoration. It began to settle naturally growing on scarps and river flows.

What LIFE+ T.E.N. will do: the uprooting of Japanese knotweed will be carried out along the river flow within the network NATURA 2000 “Val Genova” site. Many groups of this species are in fact present along the river banks. Thanks to the cooperation with the Natural Park Adamello-Brenta’s staff we will carry out a capillary uprooting, within the bounds mentioned above, of Japanese knotweed specimens with cutting of plants, the digging up of their stocks and total destruction of this plant by burning it.

Expected results: uprooting of a dangerous “focus” of Japanese knotweed and the redevelopment of the natural areas along the banks of river Sarca, where the native plants will start to grow again impeding Japanese knotweed to grow over the area again. The second expected result is to focus the attention of the Natural Park adamello-Brenta’s staff, and of every interested party in the region of Trentino, on the invasion of the territory by “foreign” plant species and the right methods to be used to prevent it.