A TEAM of nature lovers have been working hard to rid a pond near Hatherleigh of an invasive aquatic weed.

The Parrot's Feather weed is native to South America, but has taken hold at numerous sites across Britain, including the pond on Hatherleigh Moor. The weed originally came to Britain through the aquatics trade, and can overpower native species.

A team of ten volunteers, mostly from the Brandis Corner Wildlife Group, put on their waders and climbed into a dinghy to remove as much of the plant as possible.

The team managed to remove around three tonnes of the plant, filling 150 bin bags. This accounted for about half of the weed in the lake.

The plant can grow from the smallest remnant, and so the team were prudent to ensure the removed weed will be disposed of properly.

Matt Edworthy from the North Devon Biosphere Reserve, helped to co-ordinate the pond clearing efforts.

He said: 'All these efforts and the three tonnes only accounts for about half of the pond. When we turned up, the pond looked like it was covered in green baize, like a snooker table.

'These clearing efforts have made a big dent. It is an incredibly difficult plant to clear and a complete swine, because it is difficult to clear and to dispose of. It is hard to even get it to compost, because it just keeps growing. We can never clear the pond completely, but the plan is to tackle the worst of it this year and manage it year on year after that.

'The weed really limits the biodiversity of a pond like this by creating a single habitat. Normally you would expect to see a variety of light levels, and a number of micro-habitats, but this weed creates one set of conditions. We are hoping that if we break the back of it now, we can come back next May, clear some more of the weed, and then look at the pond next summer and hopefully see a much more diverse habitat.'

The team is intending to carry out a second clearing session before the end of September, and then return next year to re-assess the situation.