29 november 2019
A Dutch national protocol to prevent the spreading of Asian Knotweed has recently been published online. The RAG quality mark is included in info sheet D about preventing the spreading of knotweed for soil work.
Asian Knotweeds (Falopia spp., including Japanese Knotweed) are invasive and easily spread in urban green areas, roadsides, gardens and nature reserves. This leads to the demand for more security and safety in applying soil substrates. To combat Asian Knotweed and prevent further spreading, the Probos foundation, Aequator Groen & Ruimte and Geofoxx environmental expertise have drawn up a national protocol, in consultation with a broad user group.
In this national protocol, the RAG quality mark is included in information sheet D about preventing the spreading of Knotweed in soil work. Point 3 on risk assessment states that when supplying soil, one of the factors is important to consider: choosing RAG soil products.
And at point 12 on the supply of soil, under b it is described with which steps more insight can be gained whether there is Asian Knotweed in a batch of soil. One of those steps is to have the batch of soil tested in a weed test at RHP or applying RAG certified soil. For more information about this, the protocol refers to an earlier RHP news item: https://www.rhp.nl/en/rag-substrates-free-from-problematic-weeds
