Aligning EU policies to address biological invasions: assessing invasion impacts across sectors

Invasive alien species (IAS) affect various policy sectors, including environment, trade, and agriculture. In Europe, each of these sectors is usually regulated under different European Union legislation, but IAS is not prioritised in most sectors, and this may hinder effective tackling of biological invasions. Greater policy coherence is needed to align relevant sectors for better management of biological invasions. Engaging policymakers by sharing information on IAS impacts can help them understand the multisectoral nature of the problem and develop effective strategies. We reviewed 602 IAS in Europe, impacting nine policy sectors and 25 domains (i.e. specific policies within a broader policy sector, each addressing particular issues and activities related to that sector portfolio). Findings were presented at the NeoBiota workshop in Lisbon on the 3 rd of September 2024, attended by 54 participants, including policymakers and researchers. The workshop featured presentations and interactive sessions where participants tested the review methodology on 49 species, identifying areas for improvement, such as assessing impact scale and refining sector domains. Confusion matrices showed moderate to substantial agreement between organisers and participants in evaluating affected domains, types of impact, and confidence levels. This study shows the crucial need for interaction and synergy between research and policy, which are essential for tackling effectively IAS in Europe.

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Publication Details

Journal
NeoBiota
Published
2025-10-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3897/neobiota.102.152015
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.11

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article

Aligning EU policies to address biological invasions: assessing invasion impacts across sectors

Lucilla Carnevali, Eduardo Rendón-Hernández, Samuel Vanden Abeele, Cristina Preda et al.
1 citations
NeoBiota
Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
1.11
article

Aligning EU policies to address biological invasions: assessing invasion impacts across sectors

Lucilla Carnevali, Eduardo Rendón-Hernández, Samuel Vanden Abeele, Cristina Preda, Maria Helena Alves, Giuseppe Brundu, Beatrice Melone, Maarten P. M. Vanhove, Sofie Meeus, Sofia Duarte, Tim Adriaens, Eugenio Gervasini, Riccardo Scalerà, Elisa Chiara Bizzotto, Quentin Groom, Ana Cristina Cardoso, Ana L. Nunes, Cátia Bartilotti, Emma Cebrián, Francesca Cagnacci, Nuno V. Álvaro, Chiara Magliozzi, Raquel Martins Queiroga
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Invasive alien species (IAS) affect various policy sectors, including environment, trade, and agriculture. In Europe, each of these sectors is usually regulated under different European Union legislation, but IAS is not prioritised in most sectors, and this may hinder effective tackling of biological invasions. Greater policy coherence is needed to align relevant sectors for better management of biological invasions. Engaging policymakers by sharing information on IAS impacts can help them understand the multisectoral nature of the problem and develop effective strategies. We reviewed 602 IAS in Europe, impacting nine policy sectors and 25 domains (i.e. specific policies within a broader policy sector, each addressing particular issues and activities related to that sector portfolio). Findings were presented at the NeoBiota workshop in Lisbon on the 3 rd of September 2024, attended by 54 participants, including policymakers and researchers. The workshop featured presentations and interactive sessions where participants tested the review methodology on 49 species, identifying areas for improvement, such as assessing impact scale and refining sector domains. Confusion matrices showed moderate to substantial agreement between organisers and participants in evaluating affected domains, types of impact, and confidence levels. This study shows the crucial need for interaction and synergy between research and policy, which are essential for tackling effectively IAS in Europe.

NeoBiotaVol. 102
Universidade dos Açores (PT), Roma Tre University (IT), Meise Botanic Garden (BE), Ca' Foscari University of Venice (IT), Ovidius University (RO), University of Sassari (IT), Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (MX), Research Institute for Nature and Forest (BE), Portuguese Sea and Atmosphere Institute (PT), Institute of Natural Sciences (BE), Fincons Group (Italy) (IT), International Union for Conservation of Nature (United Kingdom) (GB), Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (ES), Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale (IT), Portuguese Air Transportations (Portugal) (PT), Joint Research Centre (IT), Business Innovation Centre (IT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (PT), Hasselt University (BE), University of Palermo (IT), University of Minho (PT)
Academy of Finland, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Vlaamse regering, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
1.11
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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