MAKING BIOSECURITY A PRIORITY
Stonbury’s biosecurity awareness and rigorous procedures ensure Britain’s habitats are protected from invasive species as teams travel from site to site.

Biosecurity is essential to protect Britain’s native flora and fauna from invasive non-native species (INNS), which can out-compete native species and transmit alien diseases resulting in devastating long-term effects on the local environment. Failure to prevent the spread of INNS from a site where it is known to be present is an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981).

Stonbury’s activities represent a significant biosecurity risk as they involve movement of equipment and personnel throughout sites in multiple river catchments. The risk is amplified as many programmes involve INNS removal or are situated in areas with known INNS risk.

In response, Stonbury is committed to proactive biosecurity and hygiene measures to minimise the risk of spreading INNS, diseases, and parasites between water bodies. Biosecurity protocols are essential even if INNS are not apparent because many parasites, seeds, eggs, and larvae are invisible to the naked eye and can survive for a long time out of water. Some aquatic INNS can survive for 15 days in damp conditions (for example poorly stored equipment) and up to two days in dry conditions.

Some examples include the plant Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica), which can re-grow from a rhizome fragment small enough to inhabit a boot tread; Ranavirus, a highly infectious amphibian disease that can be transmitted by contact with infected water; and the fish topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva), which, through damaging local ecology, costs the UK economy £1.8 bn a year.

For more information, check out:

https://stonbury.com/news/making-biosecurity-a-priority/