You don’t have to tell us that living in Brabant is ‘beautiful’. Many animals and plants also like to come to our province. However, we are not equally happy with all species, for example because they cause nuisance or displace other species. Forest ranger Frans Kapteijns mentions a few ‘invasive’ species that make our own nature a bit more difficult.
“There are more species that are bothering us. Some just a bit more than others,” says Frans before he starts his list, “but these four are a major threat.” He also has a message for holidaymakers: “Leave plants that don’t grow here beautiful there! And that also applies to animals that don’t live here.”
Many animals and plants that Frans is not happy with have been brought here by people. “It’s nice that we can go anywhere in the world. It’s annoying that we take everything with us. We like to show everything, from fish species to plants, without realizing the consequences.”
Japanese Knotweed
This exotic weed plant emerges from July to September. The plant grows fast and hard. Its strong rhizomes and stems cause damage to structures. Sidewalks, foundations and even asphalt are not safe, not to mention the verges and waterfronts. “It displaces other plant species. That creates monotonous nature without variety,” explains Frans.
Due to its vigorous growth, it therefore displaces plant species. “Native plant species grow less and insects such as butterflies are also affected,” says Frans. Those animals benefit from having many different plant species growing nearby.”
American crayfish
“They walk all over Brabant, with the scissors in front.” That’s what makes this aggressive lobster species so annoying, according to Frans. “Then they walk from puddle to puddle and kill everything there too.”
The lobsters have been walking around in the Netherlands for quite some time. They were first seen in 1985. They have hardly any natural enemies and can therefore multiply very quickly. “They are annoying, but if you catch them they are very tasty!”, Frans laughs. Lobsters are a delicacy in many countries.
That does not mean that you can immediately go out into nature to catch a Michelin meal. Exotic animals may only be caught with special permits.
Giant hogweed
Like the Japanese knotweed, the giant hogweed grows very fast. It not only threatens other plant species, but is also dangerous for humans. “You can even go blind if you get the juice of this plant in your eyes,” Frans warns.
This plant, which can grow up to five meters high, mainly grows along the waterfront, roads and railways. They have sharp triangular incisions, a clearly ‘sawn’ leaf margin and. They are light to dark green and slightly shiny.
The juice can cause severe burns. Even with light touch you can get burn blisters. This does not happen immediately, but only when sunlight reaches the place where you touched the plant.
Sunfish
Finally, another animal species that sows death and destruction: the sunfish. “They eat all the eggs and larvae of insects, fish and amphibians.” This species also has almost no natural enemies here. Propagating is therefore a piece of cake.
“They only like the pike. Unfortunately, they don’t swim everywhere. So solving the problem costs a lot of money,” Frans explains. The sunfish was also discussed in the previous poll: “Nature conservationists are not at all happy with this fish species, because this is a very annoying invasive species. It was once released in the Benelux by unwise people and is now a curse in our freshwater.”
