Advanced technology developed by the Nature Locator team is now playing a key role in enabling the public to use their phones to track where unwelcome plants, known as Invasive Non-Native Species (INNS), are growing across the UK.

Countryfile presenter Julia Bradbury took to the Leicestershire countryside to meet representatives from the Environment Agency who described the work that's being done to tackle Floating Pennywort, which costs the economy £25million a year to manage.

She urged 'plant detectives' to download the Nature Locator app, which allows members of the public to photograph 14 such invasive plant species they encounter, upload them and also obtain an accurate GPS location at the same time.  The record is then submitted and verified by expert botanists and the results appear on the PlantTracker project website. 

The Nature Locator segment is 44 minutes and 22 minutes into the programme, which aired on 18 November.

Full press release: Mobile phone technology to tackle environmental threats

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