Ban Imposed on Non-Native Water Plants

The sale of five invasive species of water plant has been banned to protect some of the UK’s most unique ecosystems.

The ban, which came into effect on the 6th of April, is designed to protect the countryside from invasive fauna. In the past, it has only been illegal to dump these plants in wild, but the new regulations stipulate that anybody caught selling the plants could face a fine of up to £5000.

The plants, water fern, parrot’s feather, floating pennywort, water primrose and Australian swamp stonecrop will become the first non-native plants to be banned from sale in England.

The ban, which is separate to proposed EU regulations that are currently being debated in Brussels to ban a large number of non-native invasive species,  has received the full backing of the Royal Horticultural Society.