Pathways of unintentional introduction and spread of 88 invasive alien species of union concern in Belgium: identification and prioritization

Article 13 of the Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species (the ‘IAS Regulation’) requires Member States to identify and prioritize pathways of unintentional introduction and spread of IAS of Union Concern. This report identifies priority pathways of unintentional introduction in Belgium for the 88 IAS of Union Concern listed to date (2023). Priority pathways are defined in the IAS Regulation as pathways requiring actions by priority because of the volume of the alien species using the pathway or of the potential damage these species can inflict on biodiversity. First, pathways of introduction and spread were identified for each of the listed species by reviewing pathway information contained in the EU risk assessments using the definitions of the CBD classification framework (CBD, 2014) and the interpretation manual of Harrower et al. (2018). The relevance of these pathways was considered for Belgium, based on expert knowledge and review. Second, pathways were prioritised using a methodology that takes into account the species impact, establishment potential and the frequency of introduction via the different pathway. The results of this prioritization are in line with results of the two previous prioritization analyses (NSSIAS, 2018 and 2020). The top 12 pathways are still the same, with pathways only changing a maximum of two ranks. In terms of importance, escape of animal species from the private premises of their owner and spread of plants beyond where they were planted are still the main pathways for animal and plant species. Only 3 extra pathways are added to the list of pathways through which the species of Union Concern are introduced to and spread within Belgium, but these pathways are only relevant for the four ant species and two other newly added species on the list. Since pathway action plans were not written in a species specific manner, we see no immediate need for an update of the current National action plan on priority pathways of unintentional introduction and spread of invasive alien species of the Union list in Belgium, taking into account that the new species could be taken into account in already existing actions on awareness raising or biosecurity measures. Instead of adding extra preventative actions or tackling additional pathways, we conclude that generating more data on species and pathways would lead to better adapted plans and ameliorate prevention in the long run.

Report

Invasive species