The Scottish Invasive Species Initiative (SISI) is an exciting and ambitious 4-year partnership project set up to tackle invasive non-native species alongside rivers and water courses in northern Scotland. The key target species for the SISI project are Giant hogweed, Japanese knotweed, Himalayan balsam, American skunk cabbage, White butterbur and the American mink.
The SISI project area is vast, covering an area of 29,500km2 encompassing Perthshire, Angus, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Highland. View a map of the project area here.
SISI works at a local level, in partnership with ten fishery trust/board partners, 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 we hope that local community control of invasive species will continue – providing a sustainable long-term solution to control.
The SISI project is led by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, SNH and by in-kind support from the project partners and volunteers – the total value of the project is some £3.24 million. The project is delivered by both a team of SISI staff employed by the project and by fishery trust staff.