PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Invasive alien species (IAS) are the second biggest threat globally to biodiversity. The species targeted by Finvasive LIFE - giant hogweed (Heracleum species), the American skunk cabbage (Lysichiton americanus) and Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) - are all on the List of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern. This list is the core of the EU's Regulation on Invasive Alien Species (1143/2014).
OBJECTIVES
Finvasive LIFE helped implement the EU's biodiversity strategy, which aimed to halt the loss of biodiversity by 2020. Under this strategy, IAS and their pathways of introduction were identified, main species controlled or eradicated, and the pathways managed to prevent the introduction and establishment of new invaders.
The project's specific objectives were to:
- Reduce unintentional spreading of IAS thanks to education and raising awareness;
- Increase the general public's knowledge of IAS and relevant legislation;
- Develop a framework for cooperation among stakeholders for future control of IAS in Finland;
- Develop and disseminate knowledge of non-chemical eradication methods;
- Eradicate and control the invasive species in Finland on the list of Union concern.
RESULTS
The project surveyed, controlled, and monitored 351 Giant Hogweed (GH) sites (5,6-15,6 ha annually), 123 Himalayan Balsam (HB) sites (24,9-41,8 ha annually) and 5 American skunk cabbage (ASC) sites (2,1 ha in total). During the final years of the project, the landowners were given guidance on how to continue the management of the sites. The project arranged 810 IAS events for home gardeners, citizen scientists/volunteers and school students with 14 673 participants during the project – 12,3 events per project month. In addition, the library exhibition was on display in 15 libraries and reached over 87 000 people. IAS portal and webtools for citizens were developed and citizen scientists and other stakeholders advised to use the tools – citizen IAS observations of the project target species grew 189-600 % during the project. The project received commendable attention from the media: at least 176 media pieces were published covering the project activities. The project had an active following community in social media platforms.
The project produced and disseminated multiple reports, research articles and YouTube videos increasing IAS awareness and management know-how of the stakeholders. The methods demonstrated during the project gained interest from third parties – for example at least 10 municipalities in Finland have started the eradication of HB by sheep grazing. The project had a representative in the national IAS advisory board coordinated by the Ministry of the Agriculture – the project results have been disseminated to the advisory board several times along the project.
The key deliverables are the following:
- The Citizen Science IAS portal (CSIASP) was originally established as an individual separate portal, but the citizen science contents were integrated to the national Vieraslajit.fi IAS portal in 2021 and 2022 for better usability, reachability, reliability, and sustainability (Finvasive LIFE English summary page: https://vieraslajit.fi/info/i-713).
- Municipal Framework Report includes all the best practices for IAS management innovated and tested by the project personnel or collected during the project from various stakeholders and via workshops arranged by the project.
The Municipal Framework Report is marketed for municipalities as an “IAS toolbox” that includes various easy to adopt actions – many of which are already used by pioneering municipalities. There are in total 68 actions included in the publication, categorized into seven themes:
- Preventing the spread of invasive species,
- Collecting and utilizing IAS observational data,
- Invasive species control,
- IAS communication,
- Handling IAS waste,
- Collaboration in IAS management and
- Funding IAS activities.
The publication is available with accompanying remarks at the national IAS webpage Vieraslajit.fi – the most important source of IAS information in Finland.
- English version: https://vieraslajit.fi/info/i-7460
- Finnish version: https://vieraslajit.fi/info/i-7262
- Swedish version: https://vieraslajit.fi/info/i-7417
- Non-chemical eradication methods report in Finnish https://jukuri.luke.fi/handle/10024/552236. Alongside this report, 12 videos were produced for the information of species identification and management, including eradication, control and monitoring efforts.
