A focus on citizen-led action

Abstract

Invasive species pose a major risk to the environment, industry and health: invasive species - pests, diseases and weeds - threaten agriculture and forestry, native species, natural regeneration and ecosystem resilience. They already have a massive environmental, social and economic impact, and climate change is likely to enable new invasive species to thrive (Cresswell and Murphy 2016, p. v). This quote from Australia's 2016 State of the Environment report summarises a significant challenge: the management of the increasing harms from invasive species. Harms caused by invasive species are increasing in Australia - where it is one of the five major threats to biodiversity, and a significant cause of economic cost - and this is true around the world. As human beings move around the planet, they take with them plants, animals, viruses, fungi and single-celled protists, which including moulds and protozoa. The reasons for this movement of species include: to provide food, fibre and fuel; to recreate aesthetic or other conditions from other places; to collect and display exotic species; or to achieve environmental or production benefits. However, often the relocation of species has been accidental, such as the introduction of the black rat and the many European weeds introduced into the New World. Unfortunately, many of the introductions, whether intentional or not, have been harmful to the receiving environment or to human welfare.