Falklands : Falkland Farmers' Week D-3 Focuses on Tourism and Invasives
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 11.07.2008 (Article Archived on 25.07.2008)
The day began with a presentation about tourism in Camp and ended with a discussion about invasive species.
FARMERS’ WEEK DAY THREE FOCUSES ON TOURISM AND INVASIVE SPECIES
By J. Brock (FINN)
Day three began with a tourism presentation by Tourism Manager, Jake Downing. He gave an overview of what was going on thus far and showed where there were areas of improvement and pointed out where development could raise the profile of tourism in Camp and how development of the industry could go forward.
At 1030hrs there was a presentation about Environmental planning followed by a Rural Business Association meeting in the Refreshment Room of the town Hall also at 1030 am.. A buffet lunch was sponsored by the Rural Business Association and this was followed by the Rural Business Association’s Annual General Meeting.
A presentation about invasive species, presented by Brian Summers, was held at 1530hrs in the Town Hall. He explained that the five areas in the South Atlantic Ocean where the EU funded project operated were on Ascension Island, Tristan da Cunha, St Helena, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands.
Mr Summers explained that his discussion was focused on Falklands Agriculture and after a brief overview of what was happening on the other Islands he explained that invasive species affected Falklands Agriculture. He felt that people needed to be better educated about invasive species and how to recognise and eradicate them. Several other areas of concern were pointed out:
- Feral Cats – carry diseases that affect sheep. He said that Andreas Short has shot 27 feral cats at Swan Inlet and that Mount Pleasant Complex had a problem with them. They have been known to take Jack Ass Penguin Chicks from their Burroughs.
- Marine invasive species – A working group has been set up to deal with this
- Rats – With the support of FI Conservation a workshop will be held in September to discuss eradicating rats from small islands Interested people are welcome to come along on 07 and 08 September.
- Border Control – MPA is now complying by handing out Bio-security certificates on the Tri-star. Mac Macarthur is training customs officers in what to look for. The training will be complete before the up and coming tourist season but there will be follow-up sessions after the 2008-2009 tourist season is finished.
- Internal Bio-Security – There have been discussions with Workboat Services about Rats and the possibility of spreading them to Sea Lion Island, Speedwell Island, George and Barren Islands, which are Rat-free.
- A review of the Simpson-Hallstrom Bio-Security Report will go ahead.
- Invertebrates like Earwigs – they are a nuisance and a student is to come to the Falklands to assess any damage they are causing. Also mentioned were Black Widow Spiders that are common in the UK.
- Rabbits and Hares – The damage has not been fully assessed.
- Invasive plats like
Califate – an aggressive program to eradicate this is going on but it is thought it can be controlled but not wiped out. Shearers don’t like wool contaminated with this. This can be controlled by spraying herbicides.
Gorse - Again, this can be controlled but not eradicated.
Thistles – There are possibilities of removal but only by spraying and not by digging them out.
Ragwort – This species can damage any human and/or animal that ingests it.
Mr Summers showed several slides demonstrating how invasive plants and animals have spread out from where they originally had been introduced.
He pointed out that in South Georgia even rook-sacks had to be vacuumed and boots cleaned every time a person changed location. Unfortunately, this was not the case in the Falkland Islands. Also, there were precautions that ships took in other locations like Rat Defenders that were used outside of the Falklands that weren’t used here.
Mr Summers was hopeful that when we get our new port there will be proper quarantine facilities and precautions against introducing invasive species.
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