• We Solve Invasive Plant Problems

  • Advanced Invasives is the leading invasive plant species consultancy

    Based in South Wales (UK), Advanced Invasives was founded in 2016 by Dr Dan Jones from Swansea University’s Department of Biosciences out of a desire to set a new standard of evidence-led invasive species management.

    We help governments, legal firms, large landowners, private companies and global leaders in weed control technologies to resolve the complex technical, legal and public relations challenges presented by Japanese Knotweed and other invasive plants.

    We work across six key areas with our clients: expert witness, research & development (R&D), strategy, site investigation, complex projects and continuing professional development (CPD).

    Our projects range in size from expert witness instructions focussing on individual properties, through to treatment strategies for landowners with nationwide land portfolios and significant public exposure.

    Project-by-project we are setting a new standard in the industry; thinking that is scientifically credible, environmentally sound, and above all cost effective.

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  • EXPERT WITNESS

    Dr Dan Jones (PhD, MSc, BSc, MA, MEWI Cert) is Managing Director at Advanced lnvasives and an Honorary Research Associate at Swansea University. He has been instructed as an expert in more than 40 legal cases UK-wide, ranging from rural landholdings through to multimillion-pound development sites. Uniquely, Dan is both a full Member of The Academy and a Certified Expert Witness.

    His specialist areas of expertise include:

    • Invasive plant identification, survey and mapping; establishing contamination with determination of spread and dispersal.
    • Assessment of Japanese Knotweed growth and spread with relative age assessment – relevant for establishing liability in civil claims.
    • Evidence-based, commercially independent management approaches for key invasive plants, including Japanese Knotweed, Himalayan Balsam and Giant Hogweed.
    • Treatment specifications for all invasive plants through all scales of operation; audit and appraisal of recommended expert, consultant and/or contractor proposals.

    Instructions can be undertaken on behalf of either claimant or defendant or as a Single Joint Expert.

  • CASE STUDIES

  • RESEARCH CAPACITY

    In 2023 we completed the world's largest and longest running field-trial on Japanese Knotweed control. Our initial findings were published in 2018 in the journal Biological Invasions, setting a new standard for peer reviewed, evidence-led invasive plant control.

    Following from this work, in 2023 we coauthored an article published in Nature Scientific Reports that assessed the sustainability of the Knotweed control treatments that we tested. This novel approach to sustainability evaluation provides a gold standard against which future weed control methods should be evaluated.

    Our unique body of data gives us the capacity to truly redefine invasive plant management best practice and take the long-term view of invasive plant problems. The evidence-based, scientific approach that we have pioneered helps our clients to manage invasive plant problems using less labour, lower doses of herbicide and less carbon across the whole treatment lifecycle - we really can do a lot more with a lot less!

    Our full list of government, academic and commercial publications can be found on LinkedIn and ResearchGate.

    Advanced Invasives is an ‘OfficiallyRecognised’ efficacy testing organisation (ORETO) accredited through our partner organisation Swansea University. ORETO ensures that organisations conducting tests and analyses that are associated with demonstrating the efficacy of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) meet statutory requirements under relevant European Commission (EC) Regulation.

  • ARTICLES

  • CONTACT

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