International Biodiversity Day sounds the alarm on invasive species

IUCN 22 May 09;

International Biodiversity Day, celebrated each year on May 22, pays tribute to the global importance of biodiversity, both as an asset for posterity and a vital resource for people and their livelihoods.

This year, International Biodiversity Day focuses on alien invasive species as major threats to biodiversity. Biological invasions are the result of species that are introduced to a new ecosystem in which they are not indigenous. They often cause great harm to their new environments.

These invasions are high on the list of current threats to biodiversity, ecosystems, species and the protected areas which support them. This has knock-on effects on the livelihoods of people that depend on them for their survival.

“The impact of alien invasive species is increasing both in the sea and on land, particularly with global change brought about by climate change,” says Jane Smart, Director of IUCN’s Biodiversity Conservation Group. “We all need to be aware of this link and consider it in our many activities to combat climate change.”

The IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) is a network of leading specialists who provide technical advice to policy makers. The ISSG manages the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) and disseminate the most current and reliable information on invasive species ecology, their impacts on biological diversity and ways to prevent and control their spread. The GISD is recognized globally as a key resource by our many partners in conservation action against invasive species.

The 2009 International Biodiversity Day marks the start of the celebrations around biodiversity that will intensify as we get closer to 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity. 2010 will be a very important year for biodiversity conservation.

The United Nations General Assembly will host a special session on biodiversity and the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity will meet on several occasions during the year culminating in its 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties.

Other biodiversity-related processes, like the discussions around the development of an Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services and the advancement of The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity study, will support and strengthen conservation work.

Many eyes will be looking closely at these processes and it is expected that by the time of the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in October, governments and stakeholders will have made up their minds about new biodiversity targets to replace the 2010 biodiversity target.

Time to Get Tough on Alien Species
UNEP 22 May 09;

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

22 May 2009 - International Biological Diversity Day 2009 spotlights perhaps one of the least know threats to biodiversity and economies-alien invasive species.

Some governments such as New Zealand are facing up to the challenge with tough customs controls on foreign plants and animals.

Others such as South Africa have well-funded eradication programmes. But far too many countries have failed to grasp the threat or are far too casual in their response.

This is a mistake of profound environmental and economic proportions. By some estimates alien invasive species may be costing the global economy $1.4 trillion or more while representing a further challenge to the poverty-related UN Millennium Development Goals.

So where are they coming from? In HG Wells' celebrated sci-fi saga, "The War of the Worlds" aliens invaded in space ships to wreak havoc and mayhem.

In the real world they are spread from one Continent to another via the global agricultural, horticultural and pet trades or by hitchhiking lifts in ballast water and on ship's hulls.

Free from natural predators and checks and balances, alien invasive spaces can explode in numbers in their new homes ousting native species, clogging waterways and power station intakes, bringing novel infections including viruses and bacteria, poisoning soils and damaging farmland.

Take water hyacinth. A native of the Amazon basin, it was brought to Continents like Africa to decorate ornamental ponds with its attractive violet flowers.

But there is nothing attractive about its impacts on Lake Victoria where it is thought to have arrived in around 1990 down the Kigera River from Rwanda and Burundi.

Hyacinth can explode into a floating blanket, affecting shipping, reducing fish catches, hampering electricity generation and human health.

Annual costs to the Ugandan economy alone may be $112 million. The plant has now invaded more than 50 countries world-wide.

In sub-Saharan Africa, the invasive witchweed is responsible for annual maize losses amounting to US$7 billion: overall losses to aliens may amount to over $12 billion in respect to Africa's eight principle crops.

The challenge is both a developed and developing economy one and the more scientists look at the issue the more concerned they become.

In the United States researchers believe they now know why a weed from Europe - garlic mustard - is damaging native hardwoods. The alien produces a poison which kills native fungi which the trees need to grow.

The scale is perhaps only now unfolding. One of the most comprehensive Continent-wide assessments to date has just been completed.

The Delivering Alien Species Inventories for Europe or DAISIE says there are now 11,000 invaders in Europe of which 15 per cent cause economic damage and threaten native flora and fauna.

Globalization and international trade will, when the economy recovers, increase the chances of new aliens to travel from one part of the world to another.

Meanwhile climate change is likely to favour some alien species currently constrained by local temperatures.

Scientists have termed them 'sleepers'-foreign agents who become embedded in a community to be activated some years later. Introduced rainbow trout into the UK is a case in point.

In War of the Worlds the Martians are defeated by an Earthly infection - perhaps a bout of flu - to which they have no resistance. Real world aliens are often made of sterner stuff.

Improved international cooperation through the UNEP-linked Convention on Biological Diversity is needed and stepped up support for the Global Invasive Species Programme.

Important too to boost the capacity of the responsible national customs and quarantine agencies, especially in developing countries and to accelerate via the UN's International Maritime Organization.

Preventing alien species entering a new country is going to be demonstrably cheaper than the cure of trying to eradicate a well-entrenched species.

Alien invasive species have for too long been given a free ride - raising awareness among policy-makers and the public and accelerating a comprehensive response is long overdue.

The DAISIE network of scientists is clear. Inaction "is becoming increasingly disastrous for Europe's biodiversity, health and economy". They could be speaking for the whole world.

Ban Ki-moon's message for the International Day for Biological Diversity
UNEP 22 May 09;

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Message On The International Day for Biological Diversity

22 May 2009 - The global decline in biodiversity remains alarming, despite agreement at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to significantly reduce the rate of loss by 2010.

The main causes include deforestation, changes in habitat and land degradation, often linked to the growing impact of climate change. Another threat – the focus of this year's observance of the International Day for Biological Diversity – is the spread of invasive alien species.

An unwanted by-product of globalization, non-native species are harming ecosystem services, livelihoods and economies throughout the world. The Government of South Africa alone is spending as much as $60 million per year in an attempt to eradicate plants, such as wattles, that are invading valuable farmland, river systems and economically important tourist sites such as the Cape Floral Kingdom.

In the Great Lakes of North America, zebra mussels are affecting shipping, fisheries and electric power generation. Throughout the islands of the Pacific Ocean, rats from foreign ships are exterminating indigenous birds. In many countries in Africa, water hyacinth is clogging lakes and rivers, to the detriment of aquatic wildlife and the communities and industries that profit from it.

There are many other examples of how invasive alien species can affect native biodiversity, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and even human health. Such threats stand to be exacerbated by the other drivers of biodiversity loss, and climate change in particular. The implications for poverty reduction, sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals are profound.

The Convention on Biological Diversity is addressing the threat of invasive alien species by setting global priorities and guidelines, sharing information and expertise, and helping to coordinate international action. The most cost-effective and feasible method of control is prevention. To be successful, this strategy requires collaboration among Governments, economic sectors and non-governmental and international organizations. A country can only prevent invasions if it knows which species may invade, where they may come from and the best management options for dealing with them.

Individuals, too, have a responsibility. Abiding by local and international quarantine and customs regulations will prevent the spread of insect pests, weeds and diseases. A simple rule applies: leave living organisms in their natural habitats and bring home only memories.

Next year is the International Year of Biological Diversity. Highlights include a high-level segment of the United Nations General Assembly and the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, in Nagoya, Japan. These events will help to shape future strategies to preserve the planet's ecosystems. Controlling invasive alien species and addressing the other causes of biodiversity loss is an increasingly urgent task. I urge all Governments, organizations and individuals to renew their efforts to protect life on Earth.