Guidelines for addressing invasive species in protected areas

Abstract

Biological invasions pose a severe and increasing threat to the world’s protected areas, and protected areas are being called upon to improve their management efficacy. Based on a review of best practice cases presented in this book and other sources, a set of guidelines to deal with invasive alien species is proposed, discussing the challenges and opportunities that protected areas face. These guidelines have a broader scope than the management of invasive alien plants within protected areas only, and include recommendations on all aspects related to invasive species, from raising awareness within the public and decision makers, to developing staff capacity, encouraging responsible behaviour, implementing prevention actions, improving the ability to react promptly to new incursions, developing surveillance and monitoring frameworks, integrating invasive species into management plans, and also for encouraging action at a broader scale than that of the protected area. These guidelines can help protected areas play a key role in preventing and mitigating the global effects of biological invasions, also catalysing more stringent action and policies at all scales.