'Eco-xenophobia' on the rise in the UK warns conservationist

The campaign to eliminate alien species like grey squirrels and rhodendrons from Britain is a form of "eco-xenophobia", according to a leading conservationist, who claims native plants and animals are doing just as much damage.

Louise Gray, The Telegraph 19 Sep 09;

An increasing amount of conservation resources in Britain is focused on getting rid of "alien species" like grey squirrels or even parakeets.

However Ian Rotherham, Director of the Environmental Change Research Unit at Sheffield Hallam University, said these species sometimes attract undue attention simply because they are seen as foreign invaders.

On the other hand, native species that also causing problems are often ignored.

The eradication of Japanese knotweed has received millions of pounds worth of funding from the Government while the buddleia or "butterfly bush" and native clematis, also known as old man's beard, can also be damaging but receive little funding. Similarly bracken, hawthorn or blackthorn destroy heaths and moors where many endangered animals live but escape the attention of most conservation groups.

Much loved animals like the badger is spreading disease among cattle and even red squirrels damage trees. But it is the "alien" grey squirrels and muntjac deer, that are loved by people in cities, that are facing the cull.

Dr Rotherham said the Government and conservationists need to focus on "problem" species rather than alien species in future in order to improve the landscape.

In addition the contribution made to the economy by non-native species should not be overlooked, he said. For example rhododendron, alongside other "exotic" species like Corsican pine are a major part of historic landscaped gardens as well as providing shelter for breeding nightingales and otters.

He even feared the policy of getting rid of "alien invaders" was in danger of being abused by racist groups.

"I’ve coined the term ‘Eco-xenophobia’ to stress the idea that we are making judgements not through objectively supported science but through mistaken ideas of what is native, what is alien, and hence what is good or bad," he said. "Many of these ideas and concepts are very recent and disguise real and serious issues of problem species and of sustainable land management and custodianship. What’s worse perhaps, is that they resonate with ideas growing with the BNP in the UK, and with other right wing groups across Europe."

A spokesman for the Department for the Environment said: "Whilst the introduction of species over thousands of years has shaped British wildlife and the countryside, where they become invasive they can have a serious impact on native wildlife and cost the British economy at least £2billion a year.

“The non-native species strategy announced last year is designed to identify and deal with problem species in order to protect British wildlife for the future.”