International Day for Biological Diversity 22 May 2009: Invasive Alien Species

The theme for the International Day on Biological Diversity (IDB) in 2009 is invasive alien species (IAS) - one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, and to the ecological and economic well-being of society and the planet. Designation of IDB 2009 on the theme of invasive alien species provides Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and those dealing with IAS, opportunity to raise awareness of the issue and increase practical action to tackle the problem.

Go to http://www.cbd.int/ibd/

• What they are and why they are a problem
• Causes and impacts of invasive alien species
• Examples of invasive alien species
• The CBD and invasive alien species
• Tackling the problem
• Celebrating the International Day for Biological Diversity
• References
  
  
  

Download promotional posters on invasive species here…

http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/Conventions/Bern/GoE_IAS/

The Bern Convention created in 1992 a specialised group of experts called “Group of Experts on Invasive Alien Species”. One of the main products of the Group was the European Strategy on IAS. The group of experts meets every two years to check progress in implementation and propose new ideas…

• European Strategy on IAS
• Bern Convention Activities on IAS
• Meetings

The workshop was a first step to including invasive species issues into the wider Managing Biodiversity Risks of Biofuels project and focused on avoiding, mitigating and managing the risks of invasion posed by commercial scale biofuel developments in Africa. The workshop convened experts from regional governments, plant protection organisations, research institutions, NGOs and the private sector to identify risks along the biofuel production and supply chain and weaknesses with current regulations. The workshop was used to develop a framework for guidelines for the prevention and management of invasion related to biofuels developments. It is hoped that the guidelines will be adopted by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) and others in the future. More…see Workshop Summary

Australia's Invasive Species Council has launched the first edition of Double Trouble, a regular news bulletin  to raise awareness about the dangers posed by weeds and pest animals to Australia’s natural environment under climate change.

http://doubletroublebulletin.wordpress.com/
Email doubletrouble@invasives.org.au to subscribe



 

Following the recently concluded meeting of the Scientific Committee (SC) of DIVERSITAS, held at the US National Academy of Sciences, Washington D.C. (6-8 February 2009), GISP is pleased to announce a new phase in its partnership with DIVERSITAS International (www.diversitas-international.org). The agreement means that DIVERSITAS will now be formally represented on GISP’s Executive Board (Dr Mark Lonsdale, currently on the Executive Board, and also a member of the Diversitas SC, will fulfil that role initially) (right) and GISP will be represented on the SC-DIVERSITAS ex officio to ensure that much needed links between the science, policy and information on invasive species are strengthened ahead of the international year of biodiversity (2010)!

Professor Hal Mooney, Chair, DIVERSITAS Science Committee & Paul S. Achilles Professor of Environmental Science, Stanford University & former Chair of GISP (left) said, ‘We really needed to see the relationship on a new footing. GISP is a doorway through which international policy makers and land managers can communicate their knowledge needs on invasives to our scientists. In turn scientists can feed their latest research findings to the places where they can have most impact.’

The next SC-DIVERSITAS meeting will take place 11-12 Oct 2009 in Cape Town, ahead of the DIVERSITAS 2nd Open Science Conference (OSC2) on Biodiversity and Society: understanding connections, adaptions, 13-16 October 2009. More…

The meeting was followed by a 2-day, National Academies Symposium on the Science and Policy for Managing the Living World Two Centuries after Darwin entitled, 21st Century Ecosystems: Systemic Risk and the Public Good, organised by the U.S. National Committee for DIVERSITAS & the Board on International Scientific Science Organisations of the National Research Council. The programme included some excellent presentations on aspects of invasive species www.4site.tv/NAS/agenda.pdf

As part of its specific initiative on invasive alien species (IAS) in the French overseas territories carried out since 2005, the IUCN French Committee has just launched a new website dedicated to the topic. This site gathers data from all French overseas territories, collected via a network of more than 100 experts and key stakeholders, with the support of 12 local coordinators. This new tool provides access to a lot of scientific, technical an legal information on these species and the strategies to better manage them.

The site especially allows access to:

• all the results of the initiative and in particular the comprehensive synthesis carried out on IAS in French overseas territories (including an inventory of IAS, their impacts, management projects, research programmes…);
• an analysis of the legal framework and recommendations to improve regulations, prevention and anticipation ;
• a database gathering information on more than 600 invasive or potentially invasive species ;
• a bibliographic database with more that 400 references on the topic ;
• a direct access to the national legislation and to the list of local rules dealing with IAS ;
• many useful documents available to download (booklets, strategies, reports…) ;
• a list of websites addresses of interest ;
• and many contacts of experts and key stakeholders on this issue.

Welcome on the website: www.especes-envahissantes-outremer.fr

For more information, please contact:
Yohann Soubeyran, IUCN French Committee, IAS Project Officer, yohann.soubeyran@uicn.fr

CABI works across the research-development spectrum finding solutions to agricultural, forestry and environmental pest problems - including invasive weeds, plant pathogens, phytophagous insects and plant-parasitic nematodes. CABI has regional centres in Trinidad and Tobago, UK, Switzerland, Malaysia, Pakistan and Kenya and conducts work in more than sixty countries.

CABI identifies and screens for biological control agents, including insects and fungi, to manage weeds, such as Himalayan Balsam and Japanese knotweed in Europe, more than ten weeds in North America including successes against leafy spurge, Dalmation toadflax, purple loosestrife, houndstongue and knapweeds, and rubber vine and mile-a-minute weed in tropical Australia and Asia, respectively. Water hyacinth is present in Asia, Africa and southern Europe and clogs waterways amongst many other detrimental features. More…
For more information please visit www.cabi.org

GISP and the International Ocean Institute (IOI) - an international NGO which promotes the sustainable use, management and conservation of the World’s oceans, and upholds the principles of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (www.ioinst.org), have recently signed a MoU to facilitate co-ordination and implementation of GISP’s Programme on Marine Invasive Species (MIS).

IOI-South Africa (IOI-SA) has been designated the network-wide focal point for marine invasive species, and the Director IOI-SA, Adnan Awad has also been appointed as GISP’s Technical Director, MIS.

CABI has just finished a hectic year in developing the Invasive Species Compendium. To date the development has focussed on building the content management and editorial systems as well as compiling datasheets on invasive species, including information on their biology, management and impact. The project is on track to be delivered in 2010 and by then we will have a content rich resource with query based search facilities and many other features, including weekly updates of a subset of the CAB Abstracts database.

The GEF-funded 2010 BIP Project, in which GISP is a Key Indicator Partner launches its website www.twentyten.net