Invasive non-native species report published
16 Apr 2014 12:27 PM
MPs call for change in law
to control invasive species like ‘killer
shrimp’ and Asian Hornet.
The
Government must implement new legal powers for tackling invasive plants and
animals, Parliament’s green watchdog has demanded.
Chair's comments
Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Joan Walley
MP:
“The growth of international trade and
travel means more non-native plants and animals are being introduced into
Britain than ever before and as our climate changes more species are likely to
find a foothold here. Not all of these species will become
‘invasive’, but the ones that do can harm native wildlife, clog up
our waterways, cause costly problems for homeowners and sometimes even harm
human health.”
It is too expensive to control or eradicate all
invasive species, so we have to be smart and pick the fights that we know we
can win. We may just have to live with grey squirrels and rhododendrons in much
of the UK, but we can and must control other invasive species - like the killer
shrimp devastating eco-systems in our rivers and lakes. Identifying potentially
invasive species prior to arrival is critical as once organisms like the
frightening Asian Hornet are here, they can be very difficult to
control.”
Current Wildlife legislation
Invasive species, such as Japanese Knotweed, the Oak
Processionary Moth, the Ruddy Duck and Zebra Mussels, can have detrimental
effects on the native species they supplant, as well as on human health and
business.
On
the day of an EU vote on new proposals to tackle the problem at a
continent-wide level, the Environmental Audit Committee is calling on the
Government to revamp the system for controlling invasive species in England and
Wales. Current Wildlife legislation has never been used to prosecute anyone and
is unlikely to provide the level of protection now needed.
Surveillance
Better prevention, surveillance, monitoring, eradication
and long-term control measures are all needed in the fight against invasive
species. The Government currently has no formal surveillance system in place to
trigger action to ensure early eradication. Defra needs to develop a
surveillance system that integrates voluntary wildlife recording with
professional monitoring and identification.
Species control orders
The
current system of ‘listing’ species to be monitored and controlled
is too slow. The Government must implement legal changes recommended by the Law
Commission and replicate the Scottish system of species control orders to
provide a mechanism for eradicating invasive species before they become
established. Species on the existing national lists that are already well
established here should be reviewed, according to the Committee. Where habitats
cannot be restored or biodiversity protected, the invasive species should be
removed from the list and control measures re-evaluated.
Joan Walley MP, chair of the Committee,
added:
“Scotland has introduced legal powers to be
able to take effective action, quickly and comprehensively, when invasive
species are identified as a threat. They use ‘species control
orders’ to allow access to land to establish the presence of invasive
species, and to implement any necessary control measures. The Law Commission
have concluded that such powers should be replicated in England and Wales. We
agree. The Government needs to get these implemented
straightaway.”
EU
regulation
Invasive species enter the country via the same routes
as new plant and animal diseases, such as ash dieback. To effectively address
biosecurity risks, the relevant regulatory frameworks should be integrated to
ensure a unified approach to managing routes of invasions into the EU. The
Committee welcomes a proposed EU regulation on invasive species, which will
help bring greater consistency to these actions across Europe. One action our
Government can take straightaway is to ratify the international Ballast Water
Convention, aimed at reducing the likelihood of inadvertently bringing in
invasive aquatic species through the ballast water of ships.
Joan Walley MP concluded:
“The new EU rules being voted upon today
will bring greater consistency across European States and will help us keep
invasive species out of Britain by requiring greater monitoring and control
across the continent before species get here. I hope that MEPs will pass this
important regulation.”
Climate change is already shifting the global
distribution of species. Britain, along with other countries, will have to
increasingly focus on conservation, where those changes in species
distributions have to be managed rather than simply resisted.
Background
A
study in 2012 counted 1,875 non-native species established in Great Britain
– a figure increasing by 10 species a year – of which 282 had
become invasive (page 5). The European Environment Agency has estimated the
cost to EU countries of invasive species to be €12 billion a year. The
Country Land and Business Association and City of London Law Society
highlighted high cost examples in the UK (pages 12-13):
- £10 million a year in damage to trees by grey
squirrels
- £165 million PA to deal with Japanese
Knotweed
- £11 million to eradicate Rhododendrom from one
national park in Wales alone.
Some invasive species have direct human health effects.
Anglers coming into contact with Giant Hogweed received skin inflammations. The
pollen of Common Ragweed causes asthma. The Asian Hornet has killed six people
in France. The Oak Processionary Moth can cause respiratory and skin problems
(page 13).
The
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits the release of non-native animals
and plants into the wild, but no one has ever been prosecuted.
In
September 2013, the European Commission published a legislative proposal for a
Regulation on Invasive Species. It was subsequently examined by both the
Council and the European Parliament under the ‘co-decision’
procedure. On Wednesday 5 March, the Council and European Parliament reached a
compromise agreement at first reading on the proposal, which must now be
formally approved by both institutions.
The
European Parliament has scheduled its plenary vote on the compromise deal for
Wednesday 16 April. The Council will then be expected to agree it, once the
European Parliament’s plenary vote has taken place. Once it has received
formal approval by both institutions, the legislation will be published in the
Official Journal of the EU and will enter into force.