(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Agriculture policymakers and plant scientists believe the time has come for countries to measure the financial impact of invasive species on national economies and consequently they believe there needs to be a major investment in research.
This view was heavily mooted by the officials on the final day of a symposium on invasive species sponsored by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture Research (T-STAR) programme. The symposium took place 14-15 July 2009 in St. Kitts/Nevis.
The officials said while there was extensive scientific data and analysis of the damage that can be caused by invasive species, by and large there continued to be a measured financial contribution for the more extensive work that had to be done.
“We need to get invasive species out of the background. There is no doubt that these species do have an economic impact so we need to do the necessary research to bring this information to the fore,” said Mr Bruce Lauckner, Head of Strategic Alliance at the Caribbean Agricultural and Development Institute (CARDI).
He also highlighted the need for public education, especially given that the containment of invasive species could be achieved if people were sufficiently informed on the necessary action to be taken or avoided.
One agricultural economist from the University of Florida, a leading academic institution on scientific research on invasive species added that once a country started to come to terms with the potential economic fallout from the establishment of invasive species then it stood to reason that there would be a better understanding on why they needed to be contained.
The two day symposium brought together agricultural policymakers, scientists and economists working in the area of invasive species to share latest trends, research and analysis on the management of invasive species in the Caribbean, Latin American and the State of Florida in the United States.
Editor’s Note:
“Invasive species” means an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic environmental harm or harm to human health.
“Alien species” means, with respect to a particular ecosystem, any species, including its seeds, eggs, spores, or other biological material capable of propagating that species, that is not native to that ecosystem.
