Thematic Assessment of Invasive Alien Species and their Control

At the tenth session of the IPBES Plenary, held in Bonn, Germany from 28 August – 2 September 2023, the IPBES Thematic Assessment of Invasive Alien Species and their Control was accepted and its summary for policymakers was approved. The Thematic Assessment of Invasive Alien Species and their Control is the result of four years of work by 86 experts from 49 countries, and synthesizes information from over 13,000 references into a comprehensive scientific assessment and concise summary document for policy makers. The complete assessment, comprised of six chapters, and its summary for policymakers are linked below.

In the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, invasive alien species were identified as one of the main direct drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide. Despite this recognition, prior to the completion of the Thematic Assessment of Invasive Alien Species and their Control, the rapidly growing threat that invasive alien species pose to biodiversity, ecosystem services, sustainable development and human well-being was generally poorly quantified and little understood by decision makers.

In conducting the assessment, experts assessed the current status and trends of invasive alien species, their impacts, their drivers, their management, and policy options to address the challenges they pose. The assessment takes into account various knowledge and value systems including Indigenous and local knowledge. See the full list of experts here.

Editors:

Roy, Helen E.;  Pauchard, Aníbal;  Stoett, Peter; Renard Truong, Tanara

Overall review editors:

Genovesi, Piero;  Wilson, John R.

Members of the management committee who provided guidance for the production of this assessment:

Rashad Allahverdiyev, Eric Fokam, Shizuka Hashimoto

Suggested citation:

IPBES (2023). Summary for Policymakers of the Thematic Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Roy, H. E., Pauchard, A., Stoett, P., Renard Truong, T., Bacher, S., Galil, B. S., Hulme, P. E., Ikeda, T., Sankaran, K. V., McGeoch, M. A., Meyerson, L. A., Nuñez, M. A., Ordonez, A., Rahlao, S. J., Schwindt, E., Seebens, H., Sheppard, A. W., and Vandvik, V. (eds.). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7430692