IPBES Invasive Alien Species Assessment

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in news?
• What is Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)?
• What are the Key Highlights of the Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control?

Why in news?

• The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has released its new publication – the “Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control’’.
• Approved in Bonn, Germany, by representatives of the 143 member States of IPBES, the Assessment Report analyses the impact of alien species on biodiversity.
  • The study, which has taken place over a period of four years, has been done by 86 leading experts from 49 countries, drawing on more than 13,000 references.

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)

• About
  • It is an independent intergovernmental body established by States.
    • It was established in Panama City in April 2012 by 94 Governments.
  • It aims to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.
  • It is not a United Nations body.However, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) provides secretariat services to IPBES.
  • HQ – Bonn, Germany
  • IPBES has produced several influential assessment reports, including the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in 2019.
    • This report highlighted the alarming rate of biodiversity loss and its implications for human well-being
• Functions
  • The work of IPBES can be broadly grouped into four complementary areas:
  • Assessments:
    • On specific themes (e.g. “Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production”); methodological issues (e.g. “Scenarios and Modelling); and at both the regional and global levels (e.g. “Global Assessment of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services”).
  • Policy Support:
    • Identifying policy-relevant tools and methodologies, facilitating their use, and catalyzing their further development.
  • Building Capacity & Knowledge:
    • Identifying and meeting the capacity, knowledge and data needs of the member States, experts and stakeholders.
  • Communications & Outreach:
    • Ensuring the widest reach and impact of work.

Key Highlights of the Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control

• 37,000 alien species have been introduced
  • There are 37,000 alien species, including plants and animals, that have been introduced by many human activities to regions and biomes around the world.
  • More than 3,500 out of the 37,000 introduced alien species pose major global threats to nature, economy, food security and human health.
• Invasive species: one of the major drivers for bio-diversity loss
  • Invasive alien species (IAS) play a key role in 60% of global plant and animal extinctions, and cost humanity more than $400 billion a year.
  • These species are one of the five major direct drivers of biodiversity loss
    • The other four are land and sea use change, direct exploitation of organisms, climate change, and pollution.
  • Most negative impacts are reported on land (about 75%) – especially in forests, woodlands and cultivated areas – with considerably fewer reported in freshwater (14%) and marine (10%) habitats.
  • Invasive alien species are most damaging on islands, with numbers of alien plants now exceeding the number of native plants on more than 25% of all islands.
• Number of alien species increasing at unprecedented rates
  • The report has noted that the number of alien species (species introduced to new regions through human activities) has been rising continuously for centuries in all regions.
  • However, these are now increasing at unprecedented rates, with increased human travel, trade and the expansion of the global economy.
  • The report warned that warming temperatures and climate change could favour the “expansion of invasive species’’.
• Not all alien invasive species have negative impacts
  • Not all alien species establish and spread with negative impacts on biodiversity, local ecosystems and species, but a significant proportion do – then becoming known as invasive alien species.
  • About 6% of alien plants; 22% of alien invertebrates; 14% of alien vertebrates; and 11% of alien microbes are known to be invasive, posing major risks to nature and to people.
  • Nearly 80% of the documented impacts of invasive species on nature’s contribution to people are negative.
• Examples of invasive alien species
  • The water hyacinth is the world’s most widespread invasive alien species on land.
  • Lantana, a flowering shrub, and the black rat are the second and third most widespread globally.
  • The brown rat and the house mouse are also widespread invasive alien species.
• The global economic cost of invasive alien species
  • The report said that the annual costs of invasive alien species have at least quadrupled every decade since 1970, as global trade and human travel increased.
  • In 2019, the global economic cost of invasive alien species exceeded $423 billion annually.
• Other impacts ofinvasive alien species
  • The reduction of food supply, has been cited by the report as the most common impact of alien invasive species.
  • For example,
    • the European shore crab impacting commercial shellfish beds in New England
    • the Caribbean false mussel damaging locally important fishery resources in Kerala, by wiping out native clams and oysters.
    • The Caribbean false mussel was originally from the Atlantic and Pacific coast of South and Central America, but are believed to have travelled to India via ships.
  • Invasive alien species like Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegyptii spread diseases such as malaria, Zika and West Nile Fever.
  • Others also have an impact on livelihood such as the water hyacinth in Lake Victoria in East Africa led to the depletion of tilapia, impacting local fisheries.
  • Invasive alien species can also amplify the impacts of climate change.
    • For example, invasive alien plants, especially trees and grasses, can sometimes be highly flammable and promote more intense fires.
• Response of countries
  • Most countries (80%) have included targets related to managing invasive alien species in their national biodiversity plans.
  • Only 17% specifically address the issue in national legislation. Nearly half of all countries (45%) do not invest in management of biological invasions.
  • In December 2022, governments agreed to reduce the rate of introduction and establishment of invasive alien species by at least 50% by 2030 under target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Q1) What is Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)?

The CBD is an international treaty that was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and entered into force in 1993. The CBD aims to promote the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components, and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from genetic resources.

Q2) What is Invasive alien species (IAS)? 

Invasive Alien Species (IAS), also commonly referred to as Invasive Species or Alien Invasive Species, are plants, animals, fungi, or microorganisms that are introduced to new environments outside of their native range and, as a result, have a negative impact on the ecosystems, economies, and/or human health of the receiving region. These species are often introduced intentionally or unintentionally by human activities, such as trade, transportation, agriculture, and tourism.

Source: Biodiversity loss: 37,000 ‘alien species’ introduced by human activities, says report | IPBES | UN Environment Programme | European Commission