Why the city is rolling out a new strategy to crack down on plant intruders

The nasty intruders often wildly spread into areas where they're not welcomed, stealing supplies from their new neighbours.

Invasive plants and species that often use up water, nutrients and sunlight that would otherwise be available to native species have been of longstanding concern in the Forest City.

• Why London claims to be the Forest City

City staff has monitored the spread of invasive species for the last decade and a provincial funding promise announced this week is about to provide more support to the city.

Ontario has committed $1.6 million to crack down on the intruders in municipalitiesacross the province in the next year.

Part of the funding is set aside for the Ontario Invasive Plant Council which has been working with London city staff over the last 18 month to create a unique invasive species strategy. It willbe presented to city council in the fall.

City-wide strategy

Andrew Macpherson, the city's environmental and parks planning manager, said London is one of the first cities in the province, including Toronto, to work on a city-wide prevention strategy for invasive plants.

"This is going to cover all areas of activity," he said. "There are different groups who manage your streets and roadside ditches than manage your natural areas or storm water management ponds."

• Why Reforest London wants the city to stop planting invasive trees

The new approach willshift the city's focus to include more management of invasive species in smaller woodlands and parks and alongside public streets.

It will also prioritize the management of phragmites,which spread quickly to out-compete native plants and could cause fire and roadside hazards due to its size and density.

"The longer you wait to deal with invasive species, the more it'll cost. It's causing environmental damage pushing out invasive species which affects native wildlife as well," said Macpherson. "The sooner we can get to solving the problem, the cheaper it is and the better it is for the environment as well."

In 2014, a general city strategy emphasized the management of natural areas to proactively tackle invasive species.

City staff is set to askcouncil for additional funding in September to supplement the current $150,000 budget for tackling invasive species.