The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), under the auspices of the Southern Uplands Partnership, has organised a seminar on the management of a major environmental problem - poorly controlled bracken. The seminar has attracted several eminent experts in bracken control and some 60 delegates have signed up to attend.

Bracken, a wild plant which can spread over wide areas of hill and moorland, poses problems for sheep farmers by harbouring ticks and scab mites, and may pose risks to human health as the spores can cause cancer. Bracken control programmes are believed to be at an all time low, with the result that bracken stands are expanding at a rate of 2-3% a year.

Delegates at the seminar will discuss how to generate a better understanding of the issues, and how to encourage eradication strategies. Speakers include

• Dr Robin Paikman of the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, who will speak on bracken ecology;
  
• Professor Roy Brown of Roy Brown Associates who will discuss eradication strategies;
  
• Dr Roderick Robertson from Aventis Crop Science who will consider treatment methods;
  
• Dr Eric Caulton of the Scottish Centre for Pollen Studies who will outline the health effects, and
  
• Will McMinn of SEPA will speak about herbicide application procedures.
  

There will also be practical sessions, including displays of the latest bracken control systems. Discussion sessions will allow the delegates, who are coming from the Borders, Dumfries and Galloway and Northumberland, to share ideas, knowledge and experience.


NOTES FOR EDITORS

Members of the press are welcome to attend, and telephone interviews with key experts can also be arranged on request. Contact SEPA Public Affairs. A buffet lunch will be provided at 13.00 - 13.45, along with tea and coffee during the day.

The seminar is being held at the Gordon Arms Hotel in the Yarrow Valley on Wednesday 16 February 2000 from 9.30 - 16.30. The Gordon Arms Hotel is on the A708 about 12 miles west of Selkirk, where the A708 and B709 intersect.

The seminar is sponsored by the Southern Uplands Partnership in collaboration with SEPA, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group, the Scottish Agricultural College and the Scottish Executive Rural Affairs Department.