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Rhododendron ponticum might just look like a pretty pink flower you can spot in a garden or on a walk, but there’s so much more to the story. Did you know it’s an invasive non-native species destroying native wildlife and our temperate rainforests? Our Rainforest Advocacy Officer Erin Shott explains.
Imagine, it’s summertime and you’re enjoying a lovely afternoon walk, and you see this pretty pink Rhododendron flower everywhere, a stunning look across the landscape. Unfortunately, what you are seeing is an invasive non-native species known as Rhododendron ponticum.
First introduced to the UK in 1763 as an ornamental shrub, this plant, like many Victorian garden escapees has spread across the UK until you can find it in just about every corner. There are many types of rhododendrons which are not invasive, but the ponticum variety is a particular problem.
The invasive Rhododendron ponticum is known for dominating the landscape, supressing the growth of young native trees and shading out internationally rare plant and lichen species while disconnecting native woodlands from one another. It’s this characteristic that makes it a major threat to temperate rainforest and other native woodland habitats.
Once it’s established in the wild, removal of the plants is possible but not easy. Repeated rounds of control are necessary, taking anywhere from 3 to 5 years and costing huge amounts of money. In fact, £3.39 million was spent on Rhododendron ponticum control between 2015 and 2022 in England.
Rhododendron ponticum is a significant threat to the UK’s rainforest. As 1% of terrestrial habitat, temperate rainforest is considered one of the rarest habitats globally. High rainfall and humidity along the UK’s west coast create perfect conditions for the greatest concentration of oceanic lichens and mosses in Europe.
But rainforests face a number of threats and challenges, including climate change, air pollution, inappropriate grazing (either too much or too little) and Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS) leading to a highly fragmented landscape in need of care and restoration.
We are dedicated to restoring the UK’s temperate rainforest and are currently working with partners in removing this invasive species and restoring the environment, including through the Rainforest Restoration Project in Cumbria, the South West Rainforest Alliance, the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest and the Alliance for Wales’ Rainforests.
Every rainforest across the UK is threatened by INNS, specifically Rhododendron ponticum. In fact, every State of Rainforest Report published to date has listed Rhododendron ponticum as a major issue for the rainforest. The State of Scotland’s Rainforest report says that invasive Rhododendron ponticum is found in 40% of core rainforest sites. Similarly, the State of Wales’ Rainforests report released in 2023 also highlights the issue, calling it a significant threat to rainforest with 66% of sites requiring intervention on INNS.
The most recently published State of Temperate Rainforest in South West England report notes Rhododendron ponticum as the most widely problematic INNS in rainforest, found in 20% of lowland temperate rainforest sites.
Despite how widespread the issue is, there are still steps that can be taken to reverse impacts of invasive Rhododendron ponticum. The good news is that we can take action to reduce this threat:
The specific genetics surrounding Rhododendron ponticum are complex; after its introduction, it hybridised with 2 species from north America. This means that not all invasive Rhododendron is the same, some are a hybrid and some are not.
At the moment invasive Rhododendron ponticum and any of its hybrids are listed as a Schedule 9 (Part II) species in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Section 14 of the Act ‘makes it an offence to plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild any plant listed in Part II of Schedule 9 to the Act’.
Britain is home to one of the rarest habitats in the world – the temperate rainforest. But how would you know if you were walking in one?
Dave Lamacraft, Plantlife’s Lichen and Bryophyte Specialist, heads out to discover a wealth of extraordinary lichens which call Wales’ rainforests home.
Air pollution often poses the biggest danger to internationally rare habitats and nitrogen gases have the potential to destroy our temperate rainforests.
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