Abseilers drop in to tackle River Tweed’s giant hogweed

The forum’s invasive species project officer Emily Iles said giant hogweed had been introduced to the UK by Victorian plant collectors who added it to their exotic botanical collections.

However, she said they had not realised the problems it would cause when it “inevitably escaped from these cultivated collections”.

“The river network is an ideal transportation network for giant hogweed with each plant able to produce between 20,000 and 50,000 seeds which can remain dormant in the soil for many years,” she explained.

“Despite the challenging nature of this particular plant, our two decades of giant hogweed control have greatly reduced plant numbers on the main stem of the River Tweed.

“Our trained volunteers and contractors do the majority of work tackling the plants, but we do occasionally have to call on specialist help like these abseilers for hard-to-reach areas.”