Swiss Federal Railways SBB and invasive knotweed management. Judith Schöbi, Lindau,

Transcription

1 Swiss Federal Railways SBB and invasive knotweed management. Judith Schöbi, Lindau,

2 Agenda. 1. SBB-Network and grassland. 2. Knowledge of invasive knotweeds and possibilities for the management/control of these plants. 3. Illustrated examples. 4. Main challenges. SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

3 3175 km of network, 7500 km of tracks, over 7000 ha of land. Mainly in the plain area and main valleys of Switzerland ( m altitude), few tracks are higher than m a.s.l tunnels (in total of 357 km) and bridges (in total of 90km) ha forest and ha grassland in possession/duty of SBB, 279 ha are within nature protection areas. Priorities in vegetation management: 1. Operational safety: profile of forests, visibility of signals, 2. Safety and health of persons (customers and staff) 3. Care for nature protection areas, rare species and biodiversity SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

4 SBB and invasive knotweeds Knowledge, especially of Japanese knotweed, since the 1990ies. Reynoutria japonica, R. sachalinensis and Polygonum polystachium are present in our grassland. Over 820 locations with invasive knotweeds reported along the network, this is around 20 ha in total. A constant monitoring of the areas is difficult, due to unsatisfactory GIS-tools. Currently invasive plants causing health risks like Ambrosia artemisifolia and Heracleum mantegazzianum receive more attention than invasive knotweeds, especially as long as these do not occur in nature protection areas or create safety risks. SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

5 Management of The actors know about the challenges of invasive knotweeds. The challenges are addressed in the following way: Awareness of our staff «nature» responsible for the maintenance of our green lands. Inventarization of known spots. Specifically they avoid that these plants get «mulched» or dislocated during the annual campaign of grass cutting => pre-cutting of knotweed. Awareness of staff in project planning units, especially the environmental engineers => measures before or during phase of construction, e.g. separation of soil contaminated with rhizomes or control of new soil / control of the construction site a few months after the works are completed to discover new sprouts. SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

6 Control of invasive Main focus is not to spread these plants further (no chopping through mulching, no dissemination by construction). The limited resources and the lack of an efficient method do not allow to cover all sites (e.g. chemical control). In addition the lack of a Swiss strategy and the often found knotweed in neighboring areas do not support an aggressive control by SBB. Chemical control: SBB has a certain experience in chemical control of invasive knotweeds by foliar application of glyphosate in late summer, after a cut some weeks before. SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

7 Chemical control of invasive Chemical control needs a permission by the central units «nature» and «environment». It is usually given under the following conditions: Newly developed or small, isolated population. No legal no-gos for application of herbicides (e.g. groundwater/ nature protection areas, proximity to forests, rivers or lakes (ChemRRV)) Neighborhood parcels are free of these plants or control together with a coordinated action of a community, canton. Further points of prioritization: - Chemical control ahead of constructions if announced by year-3. - Knotweeds provoke problem of visibility / safety. - Knotweed rhizomes destroy/endanger installations. - Knotweed close/moves to a sensitive zone with a herbicide-ban. - Remaining money for taking action. SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

8 Example 1: chemical treatment of young sprouts after construction of noise barriers SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

9 Ex. 2: Chemical treatment of small isolated population? NOT allowed because nearer than 3m to a forest SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

10 Ex. 3: Damages and further problems by jap. knotweed SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

11 Ex. 4: Test of a treatment of rhizomes with triclopyr Situation: on a slope over a stone wall, knotweed reaches the contact line and covers a signal. Advantage: these method did not require precutting (removal of cut plants is hardly possible here). Success not better than by foliar application with the less environmentally hazardous glyphosate. SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

12 Main challenges. Financial and personal resources. 2014: budget of only CHF/y for the control of all invasive plants. Depending on the location, an intervention requires a security dispositive as well access to remove the plants etc. Both increase costs. The state as our owner does not ask for and therefore does not finance the control of invasive knotweeds. The lack of a Swiss strategy for all sectors and actors does not - justify an aggressive control by a single actor. - allow the optimal allocation of the small budget, as we do not know which control is the most successful, most needed and which alternatives are available. but the problem is still growing. SBB Infrastructure installations and technology

13 Thank you for your attention. SBB Infrastructure installations and technology