[APWG] Fw: Good news from the nursery industry!

[Kat Maybury]

I was so glad to hear of this effort; it sounds like a wonderful
partnership.

 

Since you mention future assessments, you might want to take a look at
the invasive plant assessments completed using this protocol (it was
co-authored by TNC's own John Randall):  

 

http://www.natureserve.org/library/invasiveSpeciesAssessmentProtocol.pdf

 

It was designed to be objective and transparent and to, as Ellen says,
get us away from personal opinion.  The completed assessments for degree
of impacts in the U.S. are available at:
http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/

You can search for individual species by name or search by the overall
invasive impact rank (I-rank) by going to Search, Plants & Animals, and
then clicking on the Status tab.  We will have over 500 of these
assessments completed and published on the site by this summer.

 

One nice thing about this protocol is that, besides indicating which
non-natives are highly problematic, it also tells you which are NOT:
which are Low or Insignificant in terms of their impacts on native
plants and animals (try looking up "Common Lilac").    I think that is
an important aspect in helping to build constructive partnerships with
the nursery industry and others whose businesses could be impacted.

 

Congratulations and kudos to Meijer stores and the IPSAWG!

 

________________________________

From: apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org
[mailto:apwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of
Patricia_DeAngelis at fws.gov
Sent: Monday, March 26, 2007 10:48 AM
To: native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org;
apwg at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: [APWG] Fw: Good news from the nursery industry!

 


Forwarding the message below! 

By the way, IPSAWG = Invasive Plant Species Assessment Work Group 

---_ 

FYI, this press release on Meijer stores and their new initiative to
help
consumers choose non-invasive plants for landscaping is going out today,
and I wanted you all to be aware of it.  Meijer is based in MI and they
approached TNC last year to discuss this idea.  They solicited input
from
each state in their territory (MI, OH, IN, IL, and KY) on which species
in
their current inventory should be dropped due to invasiveness, and which
species in the current inventory could be 'green certified' as
non-invasive.  I provided input from IPSAWG's assessments as to
Indiana's
position on the invasiveness of plants in trade, and they considered
that
along with input from the other states.  I've got to say, it was very
nice
to have information to provide them that came from an objective,
consensus-based process rather than just personal opinion.  In the end,
they decided to drop Lombardy poplar and Norway maple from their sales
list, and several native plants they sell were certified non-invasive.
This is an ongoing discussion, so there will likely be more changes to
what
they sell next season.  Thanks to everyone who has helped assess species
through IPSAWG - these assessments and recommendations are turning out
to
be very helpful.

<><><><><><><><>><><><><><><<>
Ellen M. Jacquart
Director of Stewardship
Indiana Chapter of The Nature Conservancy
1505 N. Delaware, Suite 200
Indianapolis, IN  46202
317-951-8818
fax - 317-917-2478
ejacquart at tnc.org

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