Slugs and snails are not pests, says charity

The Royal Horticultural Society says snails and slugs are an important part of the garden ecosystem

They're slimy, very slow and often found chomping away on plants.

Slugs and snails can be spotted hanging out in gardens and parks and for a long time, the molluscs have been viewed as a nuisance to many.

However, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) is challenging that idea. The garden charity will no longer class slugs and snails as pests.

Although lots of people complain about them, the RHS says slugs and snails should be viewed as playing a key part in their green environments.

Only nine of the 44 known species of slug in the UK actually eat garden plants, according to the charity.

Lots of people see slugs as pests as some species enjoy chomping on garden plants

They're believed to play an important role in gardens by clearing dead matter and they're also a primary food source for animals including hedgehogs and birds.

When slugs and snails do cause damage to plant life, the RHS says different methods should be used to prevent them from doing so, for example planting species they prefer to munch on nearby to attract them to those plants instead.

"The RHS is all too aware of the role that gardens have in supporting biodiversity and as such will no longer label any garden wildlife as 'pests'," the charity's principal entomologist Andrew Salisbury told the Guardian.

"Instead, there will be greater consideration of and focus on the role that slugs, aphids and caterpillars play in a balanced garden ecosystem along with more popular wildlife (or animals) such as birds, hedgehogs and frogs."

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