The European Union has adopted new legislation that will tackle the rapidly growing threat to biodiversity from invasive species.

The Regulation is seen as a crucial step towards achieving the EU's 2020 biodiversity targets, while also delivering on a commitment under the Convention on Biological Diversity to establish rules to address the threats posed by invasive alien species.

Significant economic impacts arise with invasive non-native species (INNS) and are estimated to cost the UK economy £1.7 billion per year. Freshwater is particularly vulnerable to both plant and animal INNS, providing habitats and a transport medium for their spread. Detrimental environmental impacts arising from the presence of freshwater invasive non-native species in UK waters include direct threats to already endangered native species, loss of biodiversity, diminished water quality, spread of disease and restricted navigation.

For example, floating pennywort, which grows up to 20cm per day, forms dense mats that float on the surface of the water, blocking out light, squeezing out native species and increasing flood risk. The Rivers Trust says that the UK now faces an increasingly complex and costly problem, with Japanese knotweed (another problematic plant species in rivers), thought to cover an area roughly the size of London with estimated costs for its removal, back in 2003, exceeding £1.5 billion.

"This new Regulation fills a long-recognised gap"

The European Commission said the new Regulation equips Europe with an effective system that will prevent the introduction and spread of species that can cause significant adverse impacts on the environment, the economy and human health. European Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik commented:

"This new Regulation fills a long-recognised gap in EU biodiversity protection. It is carefully targeted, focusing on the most serious threats from invasive species. By working together within the EU to tackle a problem estimated to cost EUR 12 billion every year, we are taking a decisive step towards meeting our objective of halting the loss of biodiversity in the EU by 2020."

The European Commission said the new Regulation equips Europe with an effective system that will prevent the introduction and spread of species that can cause significant adverse impacts on the environment, the economy and human health.

The system will be based on a list of species of Union concern, to be drawn up with the Member States on the basis of comprehensive risk assessments and robust scientific evidence. The list will focus on the species that cause the most serious damage.

Alien species are plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms that have been transported across ecological barriers such as mountain ranges, or oceans as a result of human intervention, and have become established in an area outside their natural range.

About a quarter of the species are brought into Europe intentionally, but most arrive by accident. There are currently more than 12 000 alien species in the European environment. In their new environment, some spread rapidly and become invasive alien species (IAS), causing significant damage to biodiversity, human health or the economy. Roughly 10-15 % of alien species arriving in Europe eventually become invasive.

Invasive alien species are estimated to cost EUR 12 billion annually in health care and animal health costs, crop yield losses, fish stock losses, damage to infrastructure, damage to the navigability of rivers and damage to protected species.

At the global level, invasive species were ranked as one of most important drivers of biodiversity loss by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment in 2005.

MPs call for Scottish species control system to be implemented in England and Wales

In April this year a report by the House of Commons Environment Audit Committee on invasive non-native species said that given the lack of prosecutions under existing laws in England and Wales, it seems doubtful that the existing listing system will on its own provide the controls now needed. The report stated:

“The risks posed to biosecurity in Britain make it imperative that an integrated approach is taken to managing the risks of invasive species alongside those of plant and animal health. Defra needs to develop an approach to monitoring and surveillance that is more closely integrated with voluntary groups. The Government should immediately move to ratify the Ballast Water Convention.”

The report also said that a significant step up in public awareness and public acceptance of control measures would be needed to meet the objectives of the proposed EU Regulation, stating:  

“There is a clear need for the Scottish system of species control agreements and species control orders to be replicated in England and Wales, to ensure effective rapid response plans to eradicate invasive species before they can become established. They could also help avoid wasted effort and expenditure on large-scale control or eradication programmes, which might otherwise fail if access to all affected land could not be secured. The Government should implement the Law Commission’s recommendations to tighten the invasive species legislation for England and Wales, which should be a priority for the Government’s legislative agenda.”

The Committee cited a study in 2012 which counted 1,875 non-native species established in Great Britain—a figure increasing by 10 species a year—of which 282 had become invasive. 

UK policy is coordinated by the Non-native Species Secretariat which brings together the environment departments and agencies of England, Scotland and
Wales and oversees the 2008 Great Britain Invasive Non-Native Species Framework Strategy. Work to revise and update the Strategy has been underway since September 2013.

 Deadling with invasive alien species costs the UK water sector £100s of millions annually - for example, the cost of water treatment increases when Zebra Mussels clog intake pipes. 

Last year the UK Technical Advisory Group on the Water Framework Directive published detailed guidance for the assessment of alien species pressures on river, lake, transitional and coastal water bodies, together with data on pressure thresholds at which water bodies are at risk of failing the environmental objectives of the Water Framework Directive.