The ‘call to arms’ has come from the Socialist Left Party, a party that holds seven of the seats in Norway’s 169 seat parliament (the Storting.) The reason is to tackle the so-called ‘Spanish slug’, an invasive species from southern Europe. The slug is causing damage to agriculture. There’s only one way to get rid of the slugs, according to the University of Denmark and it is straightforward: collect them in a plastic bag, tie the top and chuck them into a waste bin.
The Spanish slug (Arion vulgaris) is a species of land slug (or gastropod mollusk) from the family Arionidae, otherwise known as the roundback slug. The slug is a highly invasive slug species and it is considered a pest. The slug can lay up to 400 eggs per year. The slug was first recorded in Norway in 1988.
Meg Gardiner (@MegGardiner1) “Whacking Day! Headline of the day: Norway party calls for ‘Slug Hour’ to hunt and destroy invasive Spanish Slug.”
The reason the slug has become a problem is because it has adapted to drier environments. The slug not only causes harm to vegetation, it also kills indigenous slugs.
The call for people to spend a little time each year removing and killing the slugs has been inspired by the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour. As well as tackling slugs in gardens, the Socialist Left Party has also recommended additional funding is set aside for conservation projects to protect other species in Norway affected by the slugs, either directly or through loss of habitat.
A spokesperson from the Norwegian party, Kari Elisabeth Kask told the BBC: “We have seen how well it has worked with Earth Hour… Norwegians are happy to volunteer,” she says, adding that a “coordinated and concerted effort.”
