Programme meeting ‘Technical discussion EWRR (alien species)’

2-3 March 2011

Joint Research Centre, Ispra (Building 29, library)

Day 1: Databases (Chair: Ana Cristina Cardoso)

Aim:The objective of the first day of the meeting is to discuss the provision of information necessary for the implementation of the EU Invasive Species Strategy.The information should serve an Early Warning Rapid Response system, but may also be useful to assist in quality assessments of sites and to address scientific questions. The core of an alien species information platform are the species occurrences, which can be supplemented with risk analyses, impact assessments, etc. The intention is to make best use of existing information platforms, to identify gaps and synergies and discuss if and how the information can be harmonised, updated, cross-linked or even integrated.

8:45-9:00: Pick up participants at reception desk of Hotel Europa

9:00-9:30: Registration at JRC welcome desk + taxi to B29 (Library)

9:30-9:40: Welcome + presentation participants

9:40-9:50: BRIEFING - EU Invasive Species Strategy WG2 meeting on Early Warning Rapid Response (Valentina Bastino)

9:50-10:30: PRESENTATIONS - databases 1/2 (see guidelines below)

DAISIE (Jan Pergl)

NOBANIS (Helene Nyegaard Hvid)

CABI (Philip Roberts)

RBIC (Vadim Panov)

10:30-11:00: Coffee break

11:00-12:00: PRESENTATIONS -databases 2/2

ELNAIS- Mediterranean database - PanEuropean EEA (Argyrou Zenetos)

National Invasive Species Database of Ireland (Colette O’Flynn)

Harmonia (Sonia Vanderhoeven)

GISD (Piero Genovesi)

Databases report (Jochen Vandekerkhove)

JRC alien species mapping and reporting tool (Konstantins Bogucarskis)

12:00-12:30: DISCUSSION - Identification of approach to deliver information to EU IS Strategy?

Option 1: Distributed information sources

1a) Leave as it is

1b)Harmonize information + identify gaps and construct additional information centres where need

1c)Cross-link the information from multiple databases (no centralisation)

Option 2: Centralized one-stop information platform

2a) Upgrade one existing database to EU reference (NOBANIS, CABI, DAISIE)

2b) Construct a new information platform (EEA, JRC)

Option 3: European information hub from which distributed information and functionalities can be accessed.

12:30-13:30: Lunch in Saletta Mensa

13:30-15:30: DISCUSSION - Architecture of an information centre/network (1/2)

- Which information is essential to support a EWRR

- Where to find the information?

- Which functionalities should be build-in or connected to?

- Where to include the quality checks?

Types of information:

  • Species occurrence data (national level, site level, georeferenced)
  • Alert lists, black lists, white lists
  • Risk analyses
  • Impact assessments
  • Basic biological information
  • Control methods
  • Experts registry
  • Registry of authorities and policies
  • Identification/diagnosis tool
  • …

Sources of information:

  • AS databases (who / what)
  • Online reporting (Eye on Earth:Ahmet Uludag)
  • Biodiversity databases (e.g. BioFresh: Aaike De Wever)
  • Monitoring schemes (e.g. WFD)
  • Projects (e.g. FP)
  • Data archives journals (e.g. Aquatic Invasions and NeoBiota: Vadim Panov)
  • …

15:30-16:00: Coffee Break

16:00-17:00: DISCUSSION - Architecture of an information centre/network (2/2)

17:00-17:55: DISCUSSION – Action plan

-Coordination and collaborators

-Workplan

-Financing options (short + long term)

17.55-18:00: Concluding remarks day 1

18.00: Taxi from JRC (B29) to Hotel Europa

20:00: Social dinner in restaurant in Ispra

Day 2: Harmonization of guidance on alien species issues (chair: Phil Boon)

Aim: The aim of the discussions on Day 2 is to identify or develop a set of reference definitions, criteria for compiling lists of non-native species, and principles for risk assessment that can be used in the EU Invasive Species Strategy. The presence of participants with experience in different policies (WFD, MSFD, etc.) at different levels (national, European, global) should guarantee the wide application of agreed terms, criteria and principles.

Programme

A. Introductory presentations

09.00-09.15: INTRODUCTION – Phil Boon (Scottish Natural Heritage, UK)

Topic A. Terms and definitions

09.15-09.25: BRIEFING - Meeting of the CBD Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG) on Invasive Alien Species – Piero Genovesi (IUCN, Italy)

09.25-09.30: BRIEFING - Progress made by WG 1 of the EC invasive species strategy – Valentina Bastino (DG Environment)

09.30-09.35: BRIEFING – Terminology in alien species databases - Jochen Vandekerkhove (JRC)

09.35-10.45: DISCUSSION - What are the advantages and disadvantages of different ways of making agreed terms and definitions available for use in guidance (adapting CBD terminology?, creating a CEN standard?, publishing an EC guidance annex, etc.). Are current definitions adequate? Where there is more than one definition of the same term, are they consistent? Can we harmonize definitions to agree one definition for each term? If so, what form of words should be used?

Some of the current definitions will be circulated before the workshop. These terms include:

Native species

Alien species

Casual alien species

Locally absent species

Invasive alien species

Naturalised species

Established species

Introduction

Intentional introduction

Unintentional introduction

10.45-11.00:Tea/coffee

11.00-11.30: DISCUSSION - Should the date of introduction of a non-native species be a criterion for defining what is and what isn’t native?

Topic B: Compiling lists of non-native species and assigning levels of impact

11.30-11.35: BRIEFING - Progress made by WG 1 of the EUInvasive Species Strategy – Valentina Bastino (DG Environment)

11.35-12.00:DISCUSSION - General principles for compiling lists. What geographical level should be used? – EU? MemberState? Biogeographical region? What lists do we need for the different policies (high impact species? low impact species? unknown impact species? ‘alert’ species?) How should these lists be used? How should these lists be constructed and updated (expert panel, composition (geography – organism group – habitat), review frequency)?

12.00-12.05: BRIEFING – Assigning impact levels in alien species databases - Jochen Vandekerkhove (JRC)

12.05-12.30:DISCUSSION -What criteria should be used for listing species and assigning levels of impact?

(a) High impact species (= Black list – Red list (UK)?)

(b) Low impact species (= White list – Green list (UK)?)

(c) Unknown impact species (= Grey list (UK))

12.30-13.30Lunch

13.30-14.00:DISCUSSION - Creating an ‘Alert’ list (= Amber list – Orange list) for species ‘not yet here’. What criteria should be used for listing species? What action should be triggered by including a species on an alert list?

Topic C: Risk assessment

14.00-14.45:DISCUSSION - General principles for undertaking risk assessment. Links with the Precautionary Principle. Do all species of concern need a full risk assessment before inclusion on high impact lists? How should priorities be set when resources for risk assessment are limited?

14.45-15.00: Action plan and concluding remarks

15.00-16.30:Coffee

Participants

Kestutis Arbaciauskas (Institute of Ecology, Vilnius University, Lithuania)

Valentina Bastino (European Commission, Belgium)

Philip Boon (Scottish Natural Heritage, United Kingdom)

Ana Cristina Cardoso (Joint Research Centre, Italy)

Aaike De Wever (Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Belgium)

Piero Genovesi (IUCN ISSG c/o ISPRA, Italy)

Alison Lee (Scottish Natural Heritage, United Kingdom)

Helene Nyegaard Hvid (Nature Agency, Denmark)

Colette O’Flynn (National Biodiversity Data Centre, Republic of Ireland)

Vadim Panov (Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre, Finland)

Jan Pergl (Institute of Botany CAS, CzechRepublic)

Natalia Pulenko (Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre, Finland)

Philip Roberts (CABI, United Kingdom)

Helen Roy (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, United Kingdom)

Sonia Vanderhoeven (Belgian Biodiversity Platform, Belgium)

Ahmet Uludag (European Environment Agency, Denmark)

Jochen Vandekerkhove (Joint Research Centre, Italy)

Argyrou Zenetou (Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece)

Marcus Zisenis (European Topic Centre on Biological Diversity-MNHN, France)

Guidelines for database presentations

max. 7 min. (1 slide/minute per issue) + 3 min discussion

Issues to be covered:

- History (What triggered the creation and how has it evolved)

- Scope (area, organism groups, habitats)

- Purpose / users

- Funding, maintenance and future

- Quality control

- Links with other initiatives (national, regional, global)

- Added value for pan-European database

1