On 10 Aug, 20:25, Robert wrote:
In message . com,
" writes
Every year we get some people here who fall victim to the false
stories that are being put around about ragwort. It has just happened
again. I am copying in the text of an old posting to explain it.
DONT PULL IT UP WHERE EVER YOU SEE IT. That is likely to be AGAINST
THE LAW!
You can't usually get an enforcement order on road verges because they
are not usually agricultural land . There is no need to control it
there because it isn't usually a risk at all..
We are being told now it is dangerous to humans. I have looked at the
science behind the claims. This is just a scare story. Yes it is
poisonous. No it is not dangerous.
For for further information see the following websites.
http://www.ragwortfacts.com
and
I agree with some of what you say. I have a some common ragwort plants
in my wildlife garden area as it is a splendid food source for a very
large variety of invertebrates.
Clearly the pulling of ragwort on land not under an individuals control
is not to be encouraged but where the land is under their control there
are no restrictions. It is most definitely not a protected plant under
schedule 8 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 
It is not just that it should not be encouraged on land not under and
individual's control .It is DEFINATELY ILLEGAL under thhe 1981
Wildlife and Countryside Act. This is what the Act says
"(1) Subject to the provisions of this part if any person
(a) intentionally picks, uproots or destroys any wild plant include in
schedule 8 ;or
(b)Not being an authorised person intentionally, uproots any wild
plant not included in that schedule. "
An athouraise person is the owner or occupuier or someone authorised
by them.
A few years ago the British Horse Society sponsored a Bill primarily
aimed at controlling the spread of ragwort. Its eventual outcome was an
amendment to the 1959 Weeds Act which allowed for a 'Code of practice on
how to prevent the spread of ragwort' however even the code of practice
recognises the value of ragwort (amongst the doom and gloom) and that in
many situations it does not pose a threat to horses and livestock.
The BHS would certainly disagree with you as far as danger to horses is
concerned. You may wish to have a look at this which seems to set out
their feelings (including some somewhat OTT quotes from a Professor
Knottenbelt ! )http://tinyurl.com/2fgm78
This is what the author of the Dutch website says about Knottenbelt's
work
....................................
"Report on the internet by Dr. Knottenbelt (Liverpool University).
This veterinarian is quoted on the internet quite a lot, because he
stated, during a debate in the House of Commons, that the toxic
substance in ragwort can almost certainly be absorbed through the
skin(6). In response to this we contacted Dr. Knottenbelt. Through an
email he informed us that there is no scientific proof for his
statements. He writes that he himself has suffered liver damage after
manually removing ragwort plants. The results of this 'experiment'
have not been published and, according to us, are not obtained through
a good scientific trial.
Through our research about the sources of the reports on the danger of
touching ragwort, we conclude that there is no substantial evidence
that there is a health risk for people. The amount of pyrrolizidine
alkaloids that might be absorbed through the skin is very low and
there is no proof that these alkaloids are being changed into a toxic
form."
..............................................
I am puzzlred by the reports on that website that he has deliberately
poisoned himself with Ragwort. . "I have tested it on myself," he
said. "My liver is in a bad state."
You cannot do proper proven scientific work on a single individual.
You need a good sized group, a cohort of people, to test something
like this to get a valid result. What was he trying to acheive? Why
harm himself. We all know the plant is
poisonous. It is just not dangerous.
A really good, balanced source of information on the pros and cons of
ragwort is the Natural England/English Nature information note,
primarily aimed at farmers and land managers but very useful to anyone
interested.http://tinyurl.com/26kwaw
As has been pointed out it has biases by omission.
--
Robert
Neil Jones
http://www.butterflyguy.com/