This is Giant Hogweed! Another example of an Invasive Non Native Species (#INNS) that grows in our #river catchments and even our gardens and poses a serious health risk to people, pets and #wildlife..... its different to 'native' #Hogweed as it can grow up to 5 metres tall and so totally drowns out our native plants and species. It also shoot outs out up to 50,000 seeds over a 3 metre radius! It has TOXIC sap which can cause burns, blistering and light sensitivity - so we recommend for this plant the careful use of an appropriate pesticide and protective clothing. To identify it look out for the spotty stem (as in the the photo). #INNSweek (fb)

There's still time to sign up as a #volunteer to help us survey #Harrogate’s becks! 👀👀💪 Pollution issues around Harrogate's becks and other urban watercourses 💦are often caused by failures in the surface water drainage network, as a result of misconnections between the surface water and foul drainage system. #OutfallSafaris are a reliable way of identifying polluting surface outfalls in urban #rivers. Surveying during dry weather helps to locate misconnections (such as dirty water from washing machines wrongly connected to the surface water network) that input foul waste into waterways compromising #waterquality and impacting #biodiversity 🦋. All relevant information from the surveys will be passed to #YorkshireWater and the #EnvironmentAgency to investigate and rectify. Volunteer training will be held on the 21 May in Harrogate. To get involved email volunteering@ydrt.co.uk (fb)