The Angling Trust has joined environmental groups and government agencies to help halt the spread of an invasive non-native plant that presents a major threat to rivers and lakes across Britain.
Floating pennywort – first found in the wild in England in the 1990s – can grow at an incredible 20cms a day from tiny fragments to form dense mats that cover the water’s surface. These can block out light, stifle native plants, and make rivers and lakes unsuitable for insects and fish.
The dense rafts can also make waters inaccessible to anglers and present a flood risk when plant mats build up around sluices and drains.
Learning from the success of smaller scale strategic partnerships, in September 2020 the Thames basin project was launched, with the Angling Trust, Environment Agency and British Canoeing working together to coordinate management of floating pennywort in the region. READ FULL STORY HERE