Giant Hogweed is a hazardous (poisonous) aggressively invasive plant that is threatening to adversely affect our access to and from watercourses in Ontario. These plants were introduced into the Grand River Watershed in 2010. Plant populations are significant and increasing in the Kitchener area.
In just a few days, giant hogweed will be sprouting along the river from St. Jacobs to Ohsweken. By the first weeks of April, it will be readily visible as the largest of only a few plants growing along the river. That will be the ideal time to find them, report them, and remove them. These plants grow along the river, and on the islands, as the seeds spread by flowing water.
Municipal budgets for removing giant hogweed are insufficient to ensure the safety of river-centric outdoor enthusiasts. This giant hogweed problem needs to be tackled by citizens and at a provincial level as a full-on community wide assault.
My vision of a successful campaign is to have hundreds of volunteers in groups of three or four (for safety) walking the shorelines every April hunting for (reporting the locations and photos to EDDMapS.org) and/or digging out these plants. This year that should happen April 16 to April 30.
Anyone who would like to volunteer for the Giant Hogweed Mitigation Project can get more information at gianthogweed.org. Confirmed locations of giant hogweed can be found on the public maps of EDDMapS.org.
For recreational activities, the best way to avoid an unhappy interaction with giant hogweed is to stay on trails. If going off the trail, wear shoes, socks and long pants. If you get sap on your skin (or your dog does), you should immediately wash the affected skin with detergent and water, keep the area covered from sunlight for at least 24 hours.
Volunteer efforts alone aren’t going to be able to prevent all the seeds from propagating so the invasion will continue to escalate. We’re going to lose access to the river unless we can change some attitudes. Presently the giant hogweed population is expanding at rates between 200% and 500% per year. This means that by 2029 the shorelines will be about half occluded by these (giant) poisonous plants.
Ontario’s Weed Act protects agribusiness from giant hogweed but does not protect citizens. Ontario Invasive Species Act is poised to work – but giant hogweed must be elevated to a status of ‘restricted’ or ‘prohibited’ first.
If we can increase municipal budgets for this control AND convince a policy maker to make giant hogweed a prohibited species then we should be able to reclaim the river for recreation and tourism.
The Giant Hogweed Mitigation Project was founded in 2019 to help coordinate removal efforts of landowners, land managers, volunteers, government, and conservation authorities.
John Kemp
Founder of Giant Hogweed Mitigation Project
St. George, Ontario
