Pocket Guide to Balsam Bashing

In recent years, we've all become more familiar with the idea of invasive species.

Plants and animals as varied as giant hogweed, the mink and oak processionary moths regularly make headlines because of the health, environmental and economic problems they cause. Invasive deer contribute to more than 74,000 traffic accidents in the UK every year, while Japanese knotweed added £70m to the bill for staging the London Olympics, and could soon stop you getting a mortgage on your house.

These invasive species destroy crops and forestry, dump silt into rivers, sabotage drains and electrical infrastructure, cut off access to beautiful places, and drive native rare and iconic species to extinction.

And they cost us all a lot of money - at least £1.8bn to the UK economy each year.

How can you help stop this expensive, dangerous (and ultimately boring) slide towards global blandification?

Read this book and then roll up your sleeves!

. Over 40 different species featured
. List of actions you can take
. Useful contact list for those getting involved

Auteur

Theo Pike is an environmental, angling and marketing writer. As Chair of Trustees of the Wandle Trust he has been instrumental in restoring this south London river to its historic status as a world-famous chalkstream - a partnership project involving invasive non-native species management on a full river catchment scale.

As a result of his experience in urban river restoration, Theo has advised many groups on mobilising local support, motivating volunteers, best practice for river restoration and invasive species management, and promoting positive links between angling and conservation. He was awarded the Wild Trout Trust's Bernard Venables Award for services to wild trout conservation in 2008, and internationally honoured as a Sage Conservation Hero in 2009.

Theo's highly-acclaimed first book, Trout in Dirty Places, was published by Merlin Unwin Books in 2012. He lives in Devon with his wife Sally.