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BUDGET cuts could force Jersey’s team of Asian hornet hunters to give up and the Island to lose the fight against the invasive species, a volunteer has said. John De Carteret, one of the founding members of the volunteers hornet hunters, has said proposed Environment Department funding cuts must not impact the programme to find, track and destroy the species, which threatens to wipe out the Island’s bee population. This year, the number of nests dealt with more than doubled from 2024 – with 625 found compared to 261 the year before. Under the government’s 2026 Budget proposals, the Environment Department’s funding is set to be slashed by £656,000 from 2025 to 2026. In 2025, the department was given £11,763,000 to spend – but the proposals would see this reduced to £11,107,000 in 2026, if they are given approval by the States Assembly in December. Mr De Carteret warned that any reduction in funding would have a massive impact on the programme. “This is a very highly successful invasive species which arrived in Jersey in 2017,” he said. “The numbers have grown, but not as much as they would have without the Asian hornet volunteers, supported by the government. “Any diminishment of support by the government would be detrimental to the whole programme.” Mr De Carteret said the volunteer group wanted to “pre-empt the possibility” that the Asian hornet budget could be slashed. Volunteers make up the majority of those dealing with hornet nests – alongside two government officers, professional pest controllers, and members of the public who spot nests and hornets. In a letter to the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel, as part of its review of the government’s 2026 Budget proposals, the volunteers group raised concerns that Asian hornets would affect areas ranging from health – with several deaths recorded in France – to beekeepers giving up and hits to tourism and agriculture. Businesses like tree surgeons and gardening firms also have to interrupt their work if they spot a nest, the authors added. The group asked the government to guarantee that budget cuts wouldn’t affect the Asian hornet programme and warned that volunteers would not be prepared to give up many hours tracking the species if they know that nests will not be destroyed. They said: “The Jersey public are quite rightly frightened of the threat posed by Asian Hornets. We have managed to keep their numbers under control. “We will never eradicate them totally, but we can, with the help of the team of volunteers and engaged public, prevent them from taking over the Island and threatening pollinators and Islanders.” A nest can take 25 hours to deal with, Mr De Carteret said – and just last week, they received 33 reports of nests. Many, he said, had become visible as the trees lost their leaves. Jersey has in recent years become a leader in the area, with experts from England, Scotland and Wales travelling to the Island to learn from volunteers. Alongside tracking and destroying nests, volunteers and professionals also run a spring queen trapping programme, catching queens before they have the chance to build a nest. This year’s programme recorded 1,376 queens. Speaking during a Scrutiny panel hearing on Monday, Environment Minister Steve Luce admitted he found it difficult to get support in the States Assembly for environmental issues, saying that money was “very tight” and that “firefighting” in areas like Education and Home Affairs had been prioritised. Deputy Luce said he did “not have a spare penny in [his] department”. “I’m not sure I would use the word ‘austerity’, but it’s been made very clear we are not to do certain things. And that means our budget is quite fixed and challenging,” he said.
