A response from the British Ecological Society to the Environmental Audit Committee "Invasive species" inquiry - May 2019.
Abstract
This paper presents the response from the British Ecological Society to the Environmental Audit Committee "Invasive Species" inquiry, addressing the following questions: (i) how well is the UK and its overseas territories managing the impact of invasive species and controlling the risks of further invasion?; (ii) of those that are already in the UK, which invasive species are posing the greatest harm to human health, animal health, plant health and biodiversity; (iii) what are the risks of invasive non-native species migrating to the UK from future climate change?; (iv) what actions should the UK take to mitigate the risk, or adapt to, climate migrations of invasive species?; (v) where should the four nations prioritise resources to tackle invasive species? (vi) how can the risk of trade and future trading relationships bringing non-native invasive species to the UK be mitigated?; (vii) how effective have the European Union's Invasive Alien Species Regulations been at addressing and tackling invasive species? (viii) in the event of EU exit, how should the UK establish its replacement for the European Commission's scientific forum to update the species list of concern? (ix) how should the UK work with the European Commission and others internationally to reduce the risk of invasive species?