Biodiversity body warns of $423bn annual hit from ‘invasive alien species’

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Plants and animals displaced from their native habitats by human activity are having catastrophic effects on the global economy and the environment, the biodiversity agency has warned in its first comprehensive assessment of “invasive alien species”.

The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ipbes) estimates that damage to nature, human health, and economic activities such as agriculture and fisheries costs the economy $423 billion a year and warns that policymakers are failing to act Appropriate actions to address growing economic losses. Threats from alien species.

The report, compiled by 86 experts over four years, found that people have moved 37,000 species of animals, plants and microbes to new habitats around the world. Due to the extent of the damage caused, more than 3,500 people were classified as alien invaders.

Scientists at Ipbes said the economic impact of invasive species, calculated at $423 billion in 2019, was a “very conservative” estimate, with costs quadrupling every decade. their report The plan was approved at a meeting of the organization’s 143 member states in Bonn this weekend.

One of the report’s co-authors, Aníbal Pauchard of the University of Concepción in Chile, said invasive alien species were a major factor in 60 percent of the global extinctions of plants and animals and 16 of the extinctions recorded by Ipbes. % unique factor for such events.

“It would be an extremely costly mistake to see bioinvasions as someone else’s problem,” he said, adding that these “risks have global roots but very local impacts that people in every country face.” “. Even Antarctica, where grass grows from seeds inadvertently introduced by tourists and researchers, has been affected, Ibbs said.

Ipbes added that preventive action at national and global levels is needed to curb this trend by enhancing biosecurity and detecting and eradicating newly introduced species before they become permanently established.

The most widespread invasive species is the water hyacinth, which is native to South America and is one of the fastest growing plants in nature, which is clogging lakes and rivers around the world, with disastrous effects on freshwater fishing, especially in Africa .

The second most widely distributed exotic species on the Ipbes list is lantana, a flowering shrub from Central and South America that was originally grown in gardens as an ornamental but is now considered a Invasive weeds are increasingly disrupting agriculture. The third was the black rat, which wiped out defenseless native animals and birds on islands across the ocean after escaping from ships.

“We’re seeing unprecedented growth rates, with 200 new alien species being recorded every year,” said Helen Roy of the UK’s Center for Ecology and Hydrology and another co-author.

Biological control — the introduction of new species to eliminate pests — can help reduce damage, although the strategy can sometimes backfire with disastrous results. One example is the harlequin ladybug, a ladybug native to Asia that was brought to the United States in the early 20th century to control pests but has now become a destructive predator of beneficial native species.

However, the approach could work if rigorous risk analysis is introduced, Roy said. On the remote Atlantic island of St. Helena, exotic jacaranda bugs are destroying native Bakelite trees until another species of ladybug is introduced to keep it under control. “It’s really about error control,” she said. “That little ladybug saved the eucalyptus from extinction.”

The third co-chair of the Ipbes assessment, Peter Stoett of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, said ambitious progress in tackling invasive alien species is achievable.

“What is needed is a context-specific, integrated approach across and within countries, and across sectors involved in delivering biosecurity,” he said. “This would have profound benefits for nature and people.”