A million Himalayan balsam plants have been uprooted in a Cumbrian river catchment two months ahead of schedule.
A Cumbrian charity has uprooted one million invasive plants two months ahead of schedule.
Conservation charity Eden Rivers Trust removed the invasive species across the Eden river catchment and has now doubled its 2026 target to two million plants.
The effort involved community groups, schools, partners and volunteers. The millionth plant was removed with the help of The Young Volunteer North group during a return visit to Wetheral Woods.
The young volunteers were joined by staff from Cumbria Wildlife Trust and North Pennines National Landscape to tackle the species, which impacts waterways.
The charity said pulling just 10 plant stems would stop 8,000 plants growing next year and create space for native plants to re-establish along riverbanks.
Jenni Payne, the trust’s community engagement and volunteer co-ordinator, said: “We thought removing a million Himalayan balsam plants was ambitious, but this is one of those rare moments when we can say it’s wonderful to be proved wrong!
“We’d be letting our amazing volunteers and communities down if we didn’t step up and match their effort and ambition, not to mention the wellbeing of our native wildlife.
“So…we have July and August, we’ve upped our target to two million, recalibrated our ‘Balsam-o-Meter’, and we’re putting the call our for more volunteers!”
Malcolm Judge, community engagement officer with the North Pennines National Landscape, said: “It was so encouraging to see a group of children keen to do their bit for the River Eden.
“The group ended up with a huge pile of bashed balsam, creating valuable breathing space for Eden’s native plants to recolonise Wetheral’s woodland.
“We had no idea that our contribution would see the charity over the line in its goal to remove one million plants this summer. It has been an incredible effort by Eden Rivers Trust and many hundreds of volunteers.”
The work was organised as part of the charity’s Action Against Invasives project, which forms part of the Access to Eden partnership project led by the trust and supported by a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The trust is inviting the public to sign up to its Bank the Balsam events running during July and August.
Families can take part as Himalayan balsam is non-toxic and easy to pull. People can also download a guide to safely pull 10 plants whenever they see them.
