Information Panels

As part of the LIFE RIPARIAS project, on site information panels have been produced to raise public awareness about invasive alien plant species and management efforts. A total of 19 permanent and 30 mobile panels were created to serve different and complementary purposes.

Permanent awareness and explanatory panels:

These panels provide information on the issue of invasive alien plant species, helping the public identify the targeted plants and understand why they should not be picked or introduced, in order to prevent their spread. They also describe ongoing management work and the measures being implemented to limit the impact of these species on the local environment. The panels are installed both near active work sites or regularly managed areas, and at the edges of sites that are not yet under active management.

In Wallonia, 9 panels have been installed in highly frequented areas, including Enghien, Braine-le-Comte, Braine-l’Alleud, Seneffe, Soignies, Louvain-la-Neuve, and Braine-le-Château. These strategic locations aim to reach a broad audience and strengthen public engagement.

In Flanders, 8 similar panels have been placed in Gammerages, Huldenberg, Aarschot, Zemst, and Hal.

In Brussels, 2 bilingual rotating panels have been set up to address the region’s linguistic diversity, in Berchem and Anderlecht municipalities.

Mobile panels:

Easily transportable and designed for use on temporary or multiple work sites as well as during events, these panels enable managers to reach a broader audience with targeted, adaptable information. Their flexibility ensures that messages can be delivered in real time, directly on site, and that general information about a specific species is not limited to a single location. 

The mobile panels focus on the emerging plant Zizania latifolia, which requires extensive management actions that may raise questions or concerns among the local population, as well as on the five most widespread invasive species addressed by the project, frequently observed — and regularly managed — across multiple sites in Belgium: Impatiens glandulifera, Heracleum mantegazzianum, Hydrocotyle ranunculoides, Ludwigia grandiflora, and Myriophyllum aquaticum.