Indicate which actions have been carried out to implement this Resolution :
Convene stakeholders/Networking
Education/Communication/Raising awareness
Fundraising
Scientific/technical activities
Describe the results/achievements of the actions taken:
For the implementation of operatives 1 and 3 of the Resolution:
In 2017 IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) and the IUCN Secretariat produced a draft IUCN standard classification for the impact of invasive alien taxa (known as the Environmental Impact Classification of Alien Taxa, EICAT). This document detailed EICAT Categories and Criteria along with technical guidance and documentation standards, and the governance model.
Following this, the IUCN Secretariat then undertook a Union-wide consultation to solicit feedback on the scientific underpinning and governance model, proposed in the draft standard. The consultation, using an online survey, went to all IUCN members, commissions and secretariat staff and ran for 6 weeks ending in July. We received 260 responses, from all parts of IUCN from around the world, with the vast majority in agreement that EICAT should become an IUCN Standard for classifying alien taxa against the magnitude of their environmental impacts, with only 4 of the respondents disagreeing. The consultation also solicited a number of comments, questions, and suggested improvements.
In addition the ISSG developed a strategy to integrate all its invasive species databases into one single online database, the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD), and incorporate the resulting data produced through EICAT assessments. The invasive species databases are supported by IUCN member Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (ISPRA).
For the implementation of operative 4 of the Resolution:
In 2017, members of the ISSG and others in the scientific community published a global EICAT assessment of alien amphibians, this followed a 2016 publication of a global EICAT assessment of alien birds species (links below). In addition, a paper published by ISSG members in 2017 identified ways to reduce bias in the application of EICAT (link below).
What challenges/obstacles have been encountered in the implementation of this Resolution and how were they overcome :
We have faced challenges in relation to capacity within the IUCN Secretariat to review consultation responses and respond to comments.
ISSG have faced challenges in raising funds to implement their data integration plan.
Briefly describe what future actions are needed for the implementation of this Resolution:
To complete the implementation of operatives 1 and 3, IUCN Secretariat and ISSG need to complete the report of the consultation results, the responses to the comments, and produce a second version of the IUCN standard classification for the impact of invasive alien taxa. These need to then be circulated those who took part in the original consultation. Once the standard is finalised, operative 2 of the resolution can then be implemented, by submitting the standard to IUCN Council to be considered for adoption as an official IUCN standard.
ISSG, the IUCN Secretariat and the wider scientific community need to continue to integrate results of EICAT into the GISD, which will permit a significant progress in the global knowledge on invasive species supporting progress towards Aichi Target 9, and SDG 15.8. In 2018, the IUCN Secretariat (GSP and Mediterranean Office) and the ISSG are also planning to work together on a small project to apply EICAT to freshwater invasive species within a region of Spain, to test how EICAT can support decision making processes at the site scale.
In addition, ISSG and IUCN Secretariat need to continue to raise funds to implement the data integration plan incorporating EICAT data into the GISD.
