Blog Post 1
I chose the Mequon
Nature Preserve as an example of a NGO in Mequon, Wisconsin. It is an actor
helping to combat invasive species. The Mequon Nature Preserve is a 438 acre
nature preserve that strives to restore and bring back the area to how it was
before European settlement in the area. Part of this means ridding the area of
invasive species.
The
Mequon Nature Preserve has been around for almost fifteen years. The land for
the nature preserve was acquired in 2002 by multiple actors including the
Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, and the City of
Mequon.
For
much of the activities the Mequon Nature Preserve would be considered to be on
a local scale for things such as environmental education for children and
adults within the Milwaukee area. Many local area schools are taught about
nature here.
Many goals and
analysis have been made by the Mequon Nature preserve to remove invasive
species within the preserve making this a local problem. Some restoration
methods being used are chemical herbicides, monitoring forest remnants, and
setting goals in invasive species reduction. Volunteers and interns have helped
a lot and are needed for removal but, they can lead to some problems due to not
understanding how to properly use herbicide. The 2014 report that they came out
with has led to a large decline in some invasive species but, some other
invasive species have popped up and were quickly stopped. For other aspects of
invasive species the scale would be a little bigger due to invasive species
being able to spread.
On
another thought The Mequon Nature Preserve spends a lot of time educating
people about invasive species which can lead to people reporting them to other
actors such as the Wisconsin DNR and others to help remove them and restore the
land as well as monitor those species which could possibly put it on a larger
scale due to environmental education. So the scope of the scale can vary
depending on what subject is done.
Some
of the invasive species the preserve is covering are: buckthorn, reed canary
grass, garlic mustard, and dame’s rocket.
MNP
is a great example of what a local actor is doing to combat invasive species.
These smaller scale local actors can be very important. I find that its role
for locally removing invasive species can be really helpful.
Sources:
One question I have on terrestrial invasive species is if there is a correlation between the location of invasive species and human activity? It seems that there is more of a focus on urban landscapes then rural. Tackling the problem on a urban level is seen in the mequan nature preserve and urban ecology center. Addressing the problem on a rural level as done by the SEWISC, utilizes many different NGO and governmental actors. Is there any focus on the Urban scale to effectively network (as done by SEWISC)?
ReplyDeleteHi Danny,
DeleteSEWISC does a lot in the city as well. Did you know that along highways is a crazy breeding ground for invasives? It's incredible how the highways and interstates assist in the dispersal of them. Humans are in fact one of the main reasons we have invasives at all. And a lot of people even use invasives as "decorative" plants for their houses!