—Nonindigenous species affect native ecosystems, communities, and populations in myriad ways, from plants (and a few animals) that overgrow entire communities, to plants and animals that hybridize individual native species to a sort of genetic extinction. Further, nonindigenous species sometimes interact to worsen each other’s impact. These impacts are commonly seen in national parks throughout the United States. The key policy change required to alleviate this threat is a shift from blacklists of prohibited species and a presumption of harmlessness to combinations of white and blacklists and a presumption that any species may be damaging. This new guiding philosophy must be inculcated at international and national levels, which will not be easy during a period when free trade is seen as an unmitigated blessing. Within the United States, enhanced cooperation and coordination will be required among all parties (i.e., federal, state, and local agencies as well as private entities) charged with managing invasions. Internationally, the key forum is the World Trade Organization. Various management tools available to combat nonindigenous species have produced some striking successes, but new research could improve their effectiveness and reliability. There is a particular need for research on ecosystem management to control introduced species. In the face of the increasingly publicized onslaught of invaders, there is a widespread tendency to view increased biotic homogenization as inevitable. However, advances in both policy and technology could greatly slow this process and perhaps (in concert with restoration measures) even reverse it. The necessary pressure and resources to effect these changes must come from an increasingly alarmed

Biological invasions—How are they affecting us, and what can we do about them?

Welt im Wandel: Erhaltung und nachhaltige Nutzung der Biosphäre

The great reshuffling: how alien species help feed the global economy.

The Mediterranean flora and fauna seem particularly rich. One of the reasons for this wealth is their high rate of endemism. In addition, the Mediterranean harbours a large variety of communities. Some of them are unique, giving the Mediterranean its touch of originality. A number of these species and communities are threatened by human activities. Until recently, the legal protection of marine species mainly concerned mammals, turtles and birds. Since 1996, 55 species of Mediterranean marine macrophytes, invertebrates and fishes were registered in Appendices I and II of the Conventions of Bern and Barcelona. Of course, the protection of species is intimately linked to the protection of their habitats and resources: a number of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were set up. In addition to the setting up of conservatories for threatened species and habitats, the targets of MPAs are to establish no-take areas where fish density and sex-ratio make spawning possible (which subsequently export eggs, larvae and adults to surrounding non protected areas) and to manage the different uses of the sea (e.g. artisanal fishing, recreational fishing and tourism) in a rational way, so that they do not conflict with each other or with conservation aims. Furthermore, protected areas are no longer seen as “islands” of nature surrounded by incompatible resource uses but are part of a broader regional approach to land and sea management. More than 400 species can be considered as having been probably introduced into the Mediterranean Sea; this represents 4-5% of its known flora and fauna. Since the early 20th century, their number has more or less doubled every 20 years. As a mean, 10% of introduced species are “invasive”: they play a conspicuous role in the host ecosystems, they threaten native species of communities and/or they have negative economic consequences (e.g. on aquaculture, public health and tourism). This is one of the most worrying forms of human impact, because it usually does not decrease with distance and time: it is irreversible at human scale (as coastal development and species extinction). From this point of view, introduced species undermine in an irreversible way everything that has been done to protect biodiversity, whether through the protection of species or the protection of habitats. For example, there would no longer be any point in setting up MPAs if it were merely to protect uniform meadows of introduced species, e.g. Caulerpa taxifolia, C. racemosa, Acrothamnion preissii and/or Womersleyella setacea. As far as the economic impact is concerned, it may be greater than the ecological one. This has been largely ignored in the Mediterranean countries, probably because the cost is “externalised”, in such a way that those who pay are generally unaware of doing so.

Nature conservation, Marine Protected Areas, sustainable development and the flow of invasive species to the Mediterranean Sea

In the 1990s, the international community placed both biodiversity protection and trade liberalization high on its agenda, resulting in the formation of global agreements and institutions, such as the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Distinct in character, they are increasingly linked through the many ways that trade rules affect biodiversity. Developing separately and involving very different communities, there is a risk that the rules and policies of one regime could hinder the effectiveness of the other. This publication seeks to encourage sustainable development by examining and building upon the complementary aspects of these two international regimes. It describes specific proposals fo resolving or avoiding conflicts and for promoting synergies, including opportunities to support effective implementation of the trade-related aspects of the CBD. Intended as background for both trade and environment experts and officials, as well as for environment and development non-governmental organizations.

Integrating Implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Rules of the World Trade Organization

International instruments, processes, organizations and non-indigenous species introductions: is a protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity necessary?

C. de Klemm

Papers

International instruments, processes, organizations and non-indigenous species introductions: is a protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity necessary?