Summary: As most home owners have discovered, beautiful plants may sometimes come with a myriad of problems. Such is the case for people who thought bamboo would make an excellent addition to their gardens, only to find out that it basically took over everything. In this segment of The Organic View, I will interview John Peter Thompson, an expert on invasive species. Today we will discuss the choices we make about our land as well as its inhabitants and the impact of those choices. There are often unintended consequences that result from trying to ?do the right thing? when it comes to the environment as well as what our options really are. Is there such a thing as a ?bad? or ?good? plant and if so, how do we find out? John Peter Thompson is a nationally recognized speaker and consultant on sustainability issues including invasive species, sustainability, ecosystem services and environmental justice as well as traditional landscape solutions. Mr. Thompson just returned from Alaska where he has a contract to in part establish a dialogue between private interests and public agencies on issues surrounding ornamental horticulture, gardeners, producers and invasive species. In addition to Alaska, Mr. Thompson is working on a sustainable agriculture production project with the Africa Trade Office of Maryland and coffee growers in Cameroon, West Africa. He recently researched and wrote a paper for the National Invasive Species Awareness Week meeting in Washington DC on climate change's impact on invasive species dynamics. Last year he organized and facilitated a national nursery industry meeting at the US National Arboretum on the practicality of establishing an invasive species free certification program through an ANLA- HRI grant. For more information, please visit our featured guests section on www.theorganicview.com or go to www.ipetrus.blogspot.com.
