Invasive species threatening native species around the globe

The negative impact of invasive plants and animals is constantly increasing, and the current situation is so serious that the Global Invasive Species Programme recently announced how on average there are around 50 non-native species having a negative impact on existing plants and animals in every county around the world.

The main reason why number of invasive species is constantly increasing is the big rise in the international trade in the last 20 years. Insects, rats and many other species travel together with different goods, and once they are introduced to new habitats they are doing serious damage to native plants and animals.

There are only few success stories in dealing with invasive species problem, and the number of negative examples is much bigger, like for instances goats doing great damage to sensitive Galapagos wildlife or rats doing great damage to yellowhead bird in New Zealand.

Big global action is our only chance but this is yet to happen as only few countries have so far introduced serious measures to tackle invasive species problem. Invasive species are finding it very easy to adapt to new environment, mostly because they often have no real predators in their new habitats meaning that their population soon becomes threat to native plants and animals.

World has to act as soon as possible to prevent the worst. The worst possible scenario would include extinction of many native species, and this is something we must prevent at any cost.