Comment on Asian hornet likely to have become established in UK, say experts | Invasive species

Mrkawfee@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

• tal@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

  I don't think that the factor here is climate change, but rather shipping stuff around the world and a few hitching a ride.

  We apparently had some make it to the US recently, too.

  https://theconversation.com/what-are-asian-giant-hornets-and-are-they-really-that-dangerous-5-questions-answered-137954

  Most likely, one or two fertile queen hornets entered Canada via shipping packaging and created the colony that was discovered in 2019.

  It’s easy for invasive species to travel this way. More than 19,000 cargo containers arrive daily at U.S. ports, and inspectors can only do random searches of shipping containers. One estimate suggests that just 2% of shipments are searched for evidence of invasive species. Many harmful organisms such as plant pests are intercepted, but some do get through.

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  • merridew@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

    They are known to hitch rides in pot plant soil. The EU has banned import of pot plant soil originating from the UK for this reason.

    There is an established population in France. Have we reciprocally banned the import of pot plant soil from France? Of course not.

    bali.org.uk/…/import-controls-on-plants-and-plant…

    Biosecurity is overseen by DEFRA. How well has DEFRA been funded under Tory austerity?

    Defra hit by largest budget cuts of any UK government department, analysis shows

    Economists at the RSPB say that this will translate into a cut of 57% in real terms since the Conservatives came into power, once inflation has been taken into account.

    theguardian.com/…/defra-hit-by-largest-budget-cut…

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    • tal@kbin.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨year⁩ ago

      In theory, yeah, I guess that that Brexit would permit for customs checks to be done.

      But in practice, you've got the Republic of Ireland, which I assume will have free interchange with parts of the EU where the hothers are established, and I don't think that hornets are going to care much about the Northern Ireland-Republic of Ireland border.

      And they managed to get into Canada, and looking online, it looks like Canada doesn't allow import of soil from anywhere other than the US, and we don't allow it from anywhere at all.

      https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/planthealth/import-information/permits/plant-pests/sa_soil

      https://inspection.canada.ca/plant-health/horticulture/questions-and-answers/eng/1396453190750/1396453225939

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