Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will require landowners to remove invasive plant species including those listed under schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 from their land.

The Government takes invasive species seriously and has legislated to tackle the spread of invasive plants.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 does not impose an explicit obligation for landowners to manage plant species listed under Schedule 9 not introduced onto their land by their own actions. However, they should prevent them from spreading off their land.

It is also an offence to intentionally cultivate, or release plants listed under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. This means landowners cannot intentionally plant listed species or intentionally cause existing listed plants to spread. Landowners should treat or dispose of listed plants where possible.

The Government is not currently considering adding additional requirements for landowners, but funding is available for invasive plant species control and management through Defra’s Environmental Land Management (ELM) Countryside Stewardship scheme.