My Churchill Fellowship project was to travel to two politically and environmentally complex regions of the world tackling invasive non-native species (INNS) holistically and cooperatively, which included Cambodia and the Balkans.
In the Balkans, the aim was to learn how four countries collaborate closely in the shared endeavour of removing invasive non-native plants, aiming to protect the environment, livelihoods, and the watercourse itself along the 1,000km long Sava River. INNS are one of the most significant global drivers of habitat and species loss, and with the UK currently importing around 12 new species a year, this is a significant problem for us to tackle.
Over a four week period, I met with practitioners, communities, Government bodies, young people, and NGO’s involved with a five year programme covering the full Sava river, learning how they built a shared objective, what work was undertaken, the innovations developed, and how local people were brought on board through using the materials in interesting ways as well as building a citizen science early warning system. Every meeting was a unique experience, but none so much as a visit to Zasavica in Serbia.
It is an extremely hot humid day as I flash past field after field of tall cheery sunflowers in my hired black and battered 4x4 Fiat Panda out of Belgrade heading to the nationally revered nature reserve and holiday park of Zasavica on the Sava River. I follow my Sat Nav along a narrow dusty track, arriving at a loose cluster of buildings deserted and after a bit of exploring, I meet Vuk, the Manager of this reserve, holiday park, and working farm along with his father and founder, Slobadan.
"Invasive non-native species are one of the most significant global drivers of habitat and species loss, and with the UK currently importing around 12 new species a year, this is a significant problem for us to tackle."
Sat in their onsite restaurant serving incredible bowls of goulash and lashings of coffee, Slobadan, an ageless character with a glint in his eye, smokes his long curled pipe and demonstrates one of his many talents. Using nothing but a plumb bob plucked from his pocket, he sways it and spins it while looking me dead in the eye. Using Vuk as translator, he asks questions of me to determine my honesty and family life and, consulting the plumb bob to clarify, determines I am worthy of showing round his land. Rather than discuss how they are managing the range of invasive plants onsite, we quickly move on to their real passion – donkeys.
The 2,000 hectare farm has hundreds of donkeys and horses, roaming semi ferally grazing the myriad species of invasive plants that have been brought down the river, turning these problem plants into a viable income. The most profitable of these enterprises is the donkey milk. This prized commodity is drunk, used for cheese, soaps, and almost anything else you could consider and is highly prized. It is these creatures who are doing the hard work of removing the INNS and turning a profit at the same time.
In being creative, and using the right tool in the right way, removal of invasives brings environmental and economical benefits. Plus, in creating a holiday park around this, it increases jobs and benefits the local community too. We can learn a lot from this, changing how we manage INNS, who does it, and what is done with the materials. Ensuring practitioners are key, as they can identify these niches and increase buy-in through their industries.
Here, distracted in the middle of a swarm of donkeys, our small yet heavy car drives over, then becomes stuck on, a tussock. With great humour, we wrestle the car off and manage to find our way back, but not before I am very nearly convinced to buy a litre of donkey milk for an extremely inflated price!
This visit, and many others showed a more effective way in which to manage this issue at home:
The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
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