The Finnish city of Riihimäki has been fighting for years to eradicate an invasive species that comes from Spain. This is the one known as the Spanish slug, although in our country it is called common slim, which invades hundreds of streets, which appeared for the first time in 2013, according to the medium.
In recent years, slugs have controlled cleaning the streets of favorable elements for their growth, distributing poison to among the city’s residents, spreading it in parks and green areas and organizing volunteering activities.
Anne Kulhoranta, visiting Sports Coordinator of the city of Riihimäki, says that despite all the measures, the Spanish slug continues to win. “At this time we are in a really bad situation because the weather is fresh, humid and rainy and the slugs move like crazy,” he said to the same medium.
According to Kulhoranta, the city and numerous volunteers have done everything possible to contain the situation, but often the measures seem like “turning off fires.” “I don’t think it is possible to completely eradicate the species in Finland due to its reproduction rate. We are very late in this fight,” he said.
The principal researcher of the Institute of Natural Resources of Finland, Erja Huusela, shares the same opinion. “The Spanish slug is already widespread and is very abundant in certain areas. It always finds refuge in vacant lots, maintenanceless plots and empty, and in nature. The species cannot be completely eradicated,” he said.
