Jersey students visit Guernsey to learn about invasive species

Students from Jersey have been visiting Guernsey to learn more about invasive species and the associated challenges of tackling them on the island.

Masters students from Jersey International Centre for Advanced Studies (JICAS) are being hosted by Guernsey Biological Records Centre (GBRC) as part of their module on invasive species.

Liz Sweet, GBRC Manager, said: “It is fantastic to host JICAS and with the States of Guernsey Invasive Species help educate the next generation of scientists. Pan-island partnerships benefit us all and I look forward to more projects like this in the future.”

The students have visited Les Tielles, Lihou, Victoria Avenue marshes and Belle Greve.

Various organisations including The Guernsey Conservation Volunteers, States of Guernsey Asian Hornet Team and Guernsey Water have been providing their expert advice on the scanning, eradication and management of the species.

Students will apply their new knowledge to assess the species and write a Darwin Plus application for one of them.

Dr Amy Louise Hall, Programme Coordinator at JICAS added: “We are delighted to be in Guernsey to discover more about invasive species control on the Island.

"We are very grateful to the Guernsey Biological Records Centre, the States of Guernsey INNS team and the Guernsey Conservation Volunteers for making us so welcome.”