EXPERTS FROM 18 European countries will arrive in Ireland today in the hope of setting up an early warning system to safeguard against invasive species.
The move comes as specialists here have expressed growing concern about the increasing numbers of alien species being detected in Ireland. Organisers plan to co-ordinate efforts to prevent alien species entering European ecosystems by establishing a Europe-wide alarm system.
The control and eradication of alien invaders such as Japanese knotweed, zebra mussel, Asian clam and bloody redshrimp costs European countries an estimated €10 billion annually.
Manager of the National Invasive Species Database Colette O’Flynn stressed the need to issue “species alerts” as soon as new species are detected. “This is the only way to deal effectively with invasive species as, once introduced, eradication of invasive species can be very difficult and costly,” she explained.
“In the past couple of years, I have seen a very concerning rise in the number of invasive species arriving in Ireland that have caused ecological havoc and huge cost in other countries worldwide.”
Recent alerts were issued in Ireland following the discovery of the Chinese muntjac deer, the Asian clam and, although extinct on these shores for hundreds of years, the wild boar. It is hoped a co-ordinated pan-European system can be established to track invasive species when they enter Europe.
Ms O'Flynn is particularly concerned about the likely damage that could result from the arrival of three species: zander ( sander lucioperca), the signal crayfish ( Pacificastacus leniusculus) and the emerald ash borer ( agrilus planipennis) which is causing widespread decimation of ash trees in America.
The European representatives are meeting at the National Biodiversity Data Centre in Co Waterford today.