Island and Ocean Ecosystems
The Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia are in the final stages of completing their National Invasive Species Strategy and Action Plans.
Creating a strategy and prioritising actions for invasive species management is essential to ensure available resources are used effectively and are targeted towards national priorities. Known as NISSAPs these plans are a focus of work under the Invasive Species Programme at SPREP.
"Our SPREP Strategic Plan 2010 – 2015 has a target of creating five NISSAP's for Pacific island countries and territories," said Mr. David Moverley, the Invasive Species Adviser of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
"We're pleased to say that we'll exceed this target by 100 per cent by the end of 2015, which means that our Pacific island countries and territories are one step closer to coordinated efforts to address invasive species which we know can cripple economies in our region as well as have social and health impacts upon our communities."
Since its accidental introduction in the 1940's, the Brown Tree Snake has caused ecological devastation on Guam including the extinction of nine of the islands 11 native bird species and five species of its lizards. There are an estimated 80 million Brown Tree Snakes on Guam and by climbing on wires they cause power outages every 4 – 5 days, damaging electrical infrastructure and household appliances, and resulting in research and control costs totalling over $US5 million a year.
These impacts brought on by Invasive species are what RMI and FSM are trying to prevent. A final workshop coordinated in partnership with SPREP is helping to finalise their NISSAP's. This has seen the island nations determine important factors to be considered in planning such as priority species and important areas, pathways of introduction, responsibilities, legislation and international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Yela Ka Forest in Kosrae State in FSM is the last remaining large Ka Tree (Termanialia Caroliniensis) intact forest in the world. It is identified in the NISSAP as a priority area for invasive species management.
"An important part of the NISSAPs is determining what priority invasive species are not present in country but are at risk from being introduced from neighbouring countries through pathways such as shipping and air travel. Species identified in this category at the workshops included the brown tree snake, little fire ant, coconut rhinoceros beetle and red-vented bulbul, all present in either Hawaii or Guam the closest jurisdictions with pathways present," said Mr. Moverley.
"The new airline service from Air Nauru has opened up a new pathway from Nauru into the Marshall Islands then to FSM. An identified risk from this new pathway was the yellow crazy ant which is found in Nauru but not in FSM or RMI."
The NISSAPs consider a common factor shared by both the Marshall Islands and FSM, this being the Regional Biosecurity Plan (RBP) which includes Hawaii, RMI, FSM (including states Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Yap) Palau, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
This document provides an overarching plan for Micronesia for biosecurity. The formation of these two NISSAP's is one of the first major recommendations of the RBP to be addressed which is to prioritise and plan for invasive species at the jurisdiction level.
The formation of the NISSAPs has been funded under the GEFPAS "Prevention, eradication and control of invasive alien species in the Pacific islands project, implemented by UNEP and executed by SPREP and country partners. The workshops are being held in both countries including workshops for each state. The workshops are taking place from the 7th August until the 26th August.
Creating a strategy and prioritising actions for invasive species management is essential to ensure available resources are used effectively and are targeted towards national priorities. Known as NISSAPs these plans are a focus of work under the Invasive Species Programme at SPREP.
"Our SPREP Strategic Plan 2010 – 2015 has a target of creating five NISSAP's for Pacific island countries and territories," said Mr. David Moverley, the Invasive Species Adviser of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
"We're pleased to say that we'll exceed this target by 100 per cent by the end of 2015, which means that our Pacific island countries and territories are one step closer to coordinated efforts to address invasive species which we know can cripple economies in our region as well as have social and health impacts upon our communities."
Since its accidental introduction in the 1940's, the Brown Tree Snake has caused ecological devastation on Guam including the extinction of nine of the islands 11 native bird species and five species of its lizards. There are an estimated 80 million Brown Tree Snakes on Guam and by climbing on wires they cause power outages every 4 – 5 days, damaging electrical infrastructure and household appliances, and resulting in research and control costs totalling over $US5 million a year.
These impacts brought on by Invasive species are what RMI and FSM are trying to prevent. A final workshop coordinated in partnership with SPREP is helping to finalise their NISSAP's. This has seen the island nations determine important factors to be considered in planning such as priority species and important areas, pathways of introduction, responsibilities, legislation and international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Yela Ka Forest in Kosrae State in FSM is the last remaining large Ka Tree (Termanialia Caroliniensis) intact forest in the world. It is identified in the NISSAP as a priority area for invasive species management."The new airline service from Air Nauru has opened up a new pathway from Nauru into the Marshall Islands then to FSM. An identified risk from this new pathway was the yellow crazy ant which is found in Nauru but not in FSM or RMI."
The NISSAPs consider a common factor shared by both the Marshall Islands and FSM, this being the Regional Biosecurity Plan (RBP) which includes Hawaii, RMI, FSM (including states Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei, Yap) Palau, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
This document provides an overarching plan for Micronesia for biosecurity. The formation of these two NISSAP's is one of the first major recommendations of the RBP to be addressed which is to prioritise and plan for invasive species at the jurisdiction level.
The formation of the NISSAPs has been funded under the GEFPAS "Prevention, eradication and control of invasive alien species in the Pacific islands project, implemented by UNEP and executed by SPREP and country partners. The workshops are being held in both countries including workshops for each state. The workshops are taking place from the 7th August until the 26th August.