development
projects
Locations Bahamas Dominican Republic Jamaica St Lucia Trinidad and Tobago Dates September 2009 – March 2014 CABI project team Bob Ramnanan Arne Witt
mitigating the threats of invasive alien species in the insular Caribbean
Invasive alien species in the Caribbean are doing untold damage to the vulnerable marine, freshwater and terrestrial biodiversity of the many islands, and to the people dependent on this biodiversity for their livelihoods and wellbeing.
so what’s the problem? As plants, animals or microorganisms that are not native to an ecosystem, the introduction of invasive alien species is threatening biodiversity, food security, health and economic development. Islands, with their diverse but delicate ecosystems are particularly at risk from invasive alien species which can do great damage to the native, especially endemic, biodiversity many of which are already threatened. Due to invasive species being able to spread and colonize new areas, tackling them requires a regional effort.
what is this project doing? CABI is coordinating a project to broaden the approach to deal with invasive alien species. To do this, the project will strengthen national capacity and facilitate the development of regional strategies. We are therefore working with partners from five island nations across the insular Caribbean, namely; the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago to enhance the region’s capacity to prevent, control and manage invasive alien species.
KNOWLEDGE FOR LIFE
Knowledge generation, management and dissemination will allow the impact of the work to continue long beyond the end of the project. Access to data and the need to build capacity at each level is key if invasives are to be eradicated, their control and management improved and new invasions prevented. In parallel with this, each country will also address its most pressing problems to prevent, quickly detect and respond, manage and eradicate problematic invasive species. We will also work at sites of high conservation value which are threatened by invasive species. Within this work we emphasize developing the skills and knowledge of government staff and others and providing the tools to effectively manage the problem. The project also aims to raise awareness of the issues of invasive species amongst the wider public and their negative impacts on the economy, livelihoods and biodiversity.
results so far National and regional strategies have been revised or created. For the Bahamas their revised strategy will be used to update related legislation. Similar strategies are on their way to completion for the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Along with representatives from national working groups we have also developed a regional strategy. In addition to creating information, the team have raised the awareness of the public; generating greater awareness. These include: creating a website (ciasnet.org), publishing a magazine highlighting the impact of many invasive alien species and their control and management and other more national efforts. The project is also sharing information internationally via various databases. In terms of prevention; representatives from Trinidad and Tobago have been trained by CABI to identify frosty pod rot (a major disease of cocoa) both in the field and the lab. Amongst other activities, they are preventing entry of this disease into the Caribbean. Saint Lucia is also successfully keeping two small offshore islands free from invasive alien species, giving their critically endangered endemic whiptail lizard a chance to thrive. The Bahamas and Jamaica are making important advances in controlling the Lionfish. Trinidad is making a significant contribution to understanding the biocontrol for the red palm mite. Jamaica is also demonstrating practical ways of controlling wild ginger and the paper bark tree in the Black River morass which is a Ramsar site (a wetland of national importance). In addition, Saint Lucia is evaluating various humane methods of capturing and dealing with an invasive iguana that’s threatening its native species. In addition, the Dominican Republic is on target to successfully eradicate feral donkeys and cats from Cabritos, and island in Lake Enriquillo.
www.cabi.org/caribbeanias Partners A consortium of partners from the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Sponsor United Nations Environment Programme’s Global Environment Facility (UNEP-GEF)
contact CABI, Gordon Street, Curepe, Trinidad & Tobago T: +1 (0)868 645 7628 E: caribbeanLA@cabi.org www.cabi.org/Americas
ID-CARIBBEANIAS-02-13
Bob Ramnanan, Project Manager