On Saturday, 8th of June 2019, a third action was taken to remove non-indigenous invasive plants within the LIFE ARTEMIS project. The main objective of the project is to reduce the negative impacts of invasive alien species on biodiversity, to raise public awareness and to establish an effective early warning system and rapid response for non-native invasive species in the forest. The action took place at two locations in the Tivoli, Rožnik and Šišenski hrib Landscape Park.

The main focus of the action was the invasive species of Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), a species of deciduous bush originating from East Asia, mostly used as an ornamental plant. It’s spread is likely to be the result of birds feeding on its reddish fruits, thus spreading its seeds.

Amur honeysuckle was being removed for the first time at the second action of removing invasive plants, when it was removed in the northern part of the nature park. According to the Report of the survey of alien plants in urban forest of Landscape park Tivoli, Rožnik and Šišenski hirb in 2017, 8 sites were found on the north side of the park. The third action took place at Mostec and Koseški bajer site. In this campaign, 19 volunteers participated and a mini-excavator, which was provided by company JP VOKA SNAGA.

Due to the stubbornness of the bushes, it is necessary to dig out the majority of the roots, because otherwise shrubs will grow back and faster than before. All plant residues were loaded into large bags and taken to destruction. They also came to the conclusion that the Amur honeysuckle is much more numerous than originally estimated in the field report and viewing.

In the future, the actions for the disposal of alien plants will continue to be carried out on average two times a year.

You can check more about the Project LIFE ARTEMIS on their website.

As part of the project they have also prepared a field manual for recognizing non-indigenous invasive plant species in forests (in slovenian language):