In 1996, concern that globalization was having negative
consequences on the environment led the United Nations and the
Government of Norway to convene the first international meeting
on invasive alien species (IAS) in Trondeim, Norway. Participants
in the "Trondheim Conference" concluded that IAS had
become one of the most significant threats to biodiversity
worldwide and recommended that a global strategy and mechanism to
address the problem be created immediately. In 1997, The Global
Invasive Species Programme (GISP) was established.
In the first phase of GISP (Phase I; 1997-2000), an
international team of scientists, environmentalists, lawyers,
natural resource managers, policy makers, and other IAS experts
volunteered their time to execute a specific programme of work .
The Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE),
IUCN (formerly the World Conservation Union), CABI (formerly the Centre for
Applied Biosciences International (CAB International))
co-administered the effort. This collaboration resulted in a
series of global assessments of the problem, as well as a global
strategy, a toolkit of best prevention and management practices,
and an initial pilot database coordinated by partner, IUCN led by
the Invasive Species Specialist Group..
Since 1997, the demand for GISP's productive,
multi-disciplinary approach has grown dramatically, necessitating
its evolution into a programme that openly engages the expertise
and capacity of an even wider variety of stakeholders. At a March
2001 meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD)
Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice
(SBSTTA), GISP released a Call to Action, inviting all
stakeholders to become members of a "GISP Partnership
Network" More than 50 governments, as well as numerous
industries, scientific institutes, non-governmental
organizations, and intergovernmental organizations have signed
the Call to Action, making GISP a truly co-operative programme of
global-scale.
Read more about GISP Phase I
The transition to GISP Phase II
The development of a Phase II implementation Plan was
initiated at the GISP Phase I Synthesis Conference Cape Town,
South Africa in September, 2000. At the meeting, representatives
from 42 governments, 17 intergovernmental institutions (including
key Conventions, scientific institutes and development assistance
agencies) and 17 national and non-governmental organizations
provided input on establish priorities for Phase II. GISP
presented these priorities at the sixth meeting of the CBD SBSTTA
and incorporated feedback from the Parties and other bodies. The
Phase II initiatives of GISP reflect the findings and
recommendations of a four-year assessment conducted in
collaboration with major GISP stakeholders.