18 July 2023, Apia Samoa - A newly published Battler Series has been added to the Pacific’s arsenal in efforts to restore island resilience through invasive species management.
The Clean Boats, Clean Ports Framework, is the 18th Battler Series developed to prevent the spread of invasive species between islands within countries. Battler Series are knowledge-sharing resources, allowing technical experts and practitioners to share what they have learned about common invasive species issues in the Pacific.
The Clean Boats, Clean Ports framework aims to manage invasive species at the port(s) of entry into Pacific Island countries, by securing the pathways that species can use to spread, and reducing the numbers, or completely removing invasive species on the main island, also known as the source.
“The Clean Boats, Clean Ports framework promotes flexible options that countries can adopt depending on their unique circumstances, as all countries within the Pacific region are diverse, and therefore, a one-size-fits-all approach is unrealistic,” says Mr David Moverley, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme’s (SPREP) Invasive Species Adviser.
“One of the fundamental principles of preventing the arrival, establishment, and spread of invasive species is to manage risk at its source, which is most often the main port of entry.”
The Framework outlines and defines a series of actions and systems needed to detect the arrival and prevent the establishment and spread of invasive species within Countries. It encourages inter-agency cooperation between existing Biosecurity or Quarantine teams and other participants involved in biosecurity, such as environment officers.
Monica Gruber from the Wellington Univentures prepared this guide based on the experiences and knowledge shared by many around the region, especially in-country Agriculture and Environment directors, managers, and officers and PRISMSS partners and SPREP. The development of the publication was funded under the Global Environment Facility 6 Regional Invasives Project (GEF 6 RIP), as part of the Protect Our Islands programme.
Protect Our Islands is one of the five technical programmes of the Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Service (PRISMSS) that helps prevent the arrival, establishment and spread of invasive species in the Pacific islands region.
The Clean Boats, Clean Ports battler series is available for download on the Battler Resource Base, along with the previously developed and launched biosecurity-related guides such as the Protect Our Islands with Biosecurity, Manage Marine Biosecurity in the Pacific, and Catch it Early: Invasive Species Early Detection and Rapid Response.
For more information, please contact Ms. Isabell Rasch, GEF 6 RIP Project Manager, at [email protected].
The GEF 6 RIP is funded by the Global Environment Facility, implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme, and executed by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. The Project works primarily in the Marshall Islands, Niue, Tonga, and Tuvalu and has a regional component. Implementation of the GEF6RIP is supported by the Pacific Regional Invasive Species Management Support Service.