Invasive species do not recognise national borders, and eradicating them requires effective collaboration between countries. Finland and Sweden are working well together. In the grey of November, it's a great time to reminisce about those sunny days of weeding and revisit the lessons learned from our trip to Umeå.

In June 2024, a group of six of us went on a networking trip to Umeå as part of the Barents IAS project. Our guide during the trip was Linda Backlund, an invasive species expert from Västerbotten County (Länsstyrelsen, Västerbottens län).

We visited the Storavan nature reserve, where a joint INSPIRE project between Swedish and Finnish partners is examining methods of invasive species control and habitat restoration. Linda Backlund and her allies have set up sample plots in the area to test different ways of controlling garden lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus) and restoring native plants. With Linda, we learned about the different control methods and also got our hands dirty: we weeded out garden lupins, dug up roots, planted meadow plants and sowed meadow plant seeds as well.

Linda stressed the importance of information exchange and cooperation between countries. She also emphasised how important it is to involve all local actors. Close collaboration with municipalities as well as effective communication with residents and landowners is essential to successful control work.

Munching on Himalayan balsam

Linda also showed us around the recreational area, where the widespread Himalayan balsam foliage has hampered its use. There, the Umeå municipality has taken action against the Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) with the help of sheep grazing.

"Sheep don't like eating fresh nettles, so you may find small Himalayan balsam saplings in the nettle bushes. It's a good idea to mow the nettles and leave them to dry, after which the sheep will happily eat them and there will be no hiding places left for the Himalayan balsams," explains Marjaana Hassani, an expert in landscape and nature management.

Interested in learning more about the topic? Check out a video from the Barents IAS project where Linda Backlund explains more about the control and restoration work at Storavan and discusses the importance of collaboration between countries:

Collaboration across borders (Swedish speech, English text)

Samarbete över gränserna (Swedish speech, Swedish text)

The study/networking trip to Umeå was attended by Ella Ahti, Project Coordinator of Barents IAS from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Marjaana Hassani, Landscape and Nature Management Expert, Taru Koskinen and Tuuli Mäkinen, Environmental Experts, Susanna Winqvist, Communications Manager at Rural Women’s Advisory Organization and Martina Motzbäuchel, Photographer (Valokuvaus Lichtwerk).

We’d like to thank Linda Backlund and the INSPIRE project assistants Karin Edlund, Henrik Agestedt, Hilda Alfredsson and Henni Nilsson.

Text and photos: Susanna Winqvist (Rural Women’s Advisory Organization)