The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI) is a 4-year partnership project set up to tackle invasive non-native species alongside rivers and water courses in northern Scotland. There are ten fishery trust/board partners in SISI who are working to deliver the project across catchments.

The SISI project area covers an area of 29,500km² – over a third of Scotland and encompasses Perthshire, Angus, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland. View a map of the project area here.

The key target species for the SISI project are Giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, American skunk cabbage, White butterbur and the American mink.

SISI works in partnership with the fishery trusts, to support, train and equip volunteers with the skills and equipment they need to enable control of invasive species at a local level, embedded in the community. The SISI project is funded until October 2021, when it is hoped that local community control of invasive species will continue – providing a sustainable long-term solution to control.

SISI work is covering five main areas of activity.

Invasive plant control project
With the help of volunteers, the SISI project is pulling out Himalayan balsam and treating Giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed with herbicide.

American mink control project
The SISI project is building on previous control work by reinvigorating the programme of monitoring and trapping for removal of mink, with the help of a network of volunteers.

Creating a volunteer network
No experience necessary! We are investing time and support in building a network of enthusiastic volunteers, providing them with skills, training and qualifications (at no cost) such as pesticide application (PA1/PA6) and first aid.

Raising awareness of invasive species
Through delivering education programmes for schools and community groups we can engage people in discovering the importance of the river environment and the impacts of invasive species.

Promoting biosecurity
A key part of controlling invasive species (and diseases) is preventing their spread into new areas, so we are all working to promote good biosecurity measures.

Find out more
You can find out more about the Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI), the target species, how to get involved and volunteer or keep in touch with progress on the project website and through social media.