Title: Experts plan EU invasive species early warning database system
[The Irish Times - By E MacConnell: Tue, Jun 01, 2010] -- EXPERTS
FROM 18 European countries will arrive in Ireland today in the hope of setting
up an early warning system to safeguard against invasive species. The move
comes as specialists here have expressed growing concern about the increasing
numbers of alien species being detected in Ireland. Organisers plan to
co-ordinate efforts to prevent alien species entering European ecosystems by
establishing a Europe-wide alarm system.
The control and eradication of alien invaders such as Japanese knotweed,
zebra mussel, Asian clam and bloody redshrimp costs European countries an
estimated 10 billion Euros annually.
Manager of the National Invasive Species Database Colette O'Flynn stressed
the need to issue "species alerts" as soon as new species are detected. "This is
the only way to deal effectively with invasive species as, once introduced,
eradication of invasive species can be very difficult and costly," she
explained.
"In the past couple of years, I have seen a very concerning rise in the
number of invasive species arriving in Ireland that have caused ecological havoc
and huge cost in other countries worldwide."
Recent alerts were issued in Ireland following the discovery of the Chinese
muntjac deer, the Asian clam and, although extinct on these shores for hundreds
of years, the wild boar. It is hoped a co-ordinated pan-European system can be
established to track invasive species when they enter Europe.
Ms O'Flynn is particularly concerned about the likely damage that could
result from the arrival of three species: zander (sander lucioperca),
the signal crayfish (Pacificastacus leniusculus) and the emerald ash
borer (agrilus planipennis) which is causing widespread decimation of
ash trees in America.
The European representatives are meeting at the National Biodiversity Data
Centre in Co Waterford today