PRIORITIZATION OF ACTION ON NON-NATIVE SPECIES – PROGRESS IN GREAT BRITAIN

There is an increasing number of calls for action on a wide range of invasive non-native species, but only a limited resource to deal with them. It is clearly important for policy makers and others to be able to prioritize where these scarce resources are directed in order to maximize their conservation benefit. Coordination of effort, and knowledge sharing are clearly important as are risk assessment methods which attempt to quantify the risk posed by a range of species that are either present or are likely to invade. Great Britain, as an island, has advantages over continental landmasses in that prevention of invasion by terrestrial and freshwater species is more straightforward. However, there is still a large number of detrimental nonnative species present in the country and this is likely to increase. This paper describes the recent establishment of a mechanism to coordinate action against non-native species in Britain. It also details the development of a risk analysis process which will provide scientifically robust advice to the government and allow policy makers and others to base prioritize actions against invasive species on a more sound footing