Aliens Newsletter - ISSG

anned but they will not be planted or dispersed
in forest areas and wetlands or used in plantations
along roads that run through non urban land. They
can however be kept in gardens with well defined
borders provided that they do not propagate outside
their boundaries. The Decree also establishes
that remains of plants included in both annexes
must be disposed of at authorised dumps and
that dumping in the wild will be fined.
The issue regarding the sale of goods carrying exotic
species is also addressed. Should goods offered
for sale be found carrying species of annex
I they will be quarantined and isolated until guaranteed
to be free from alien species. If the latter
is not possible goods will be destroyed.
The decree also highlights the need to intervene
at an early stage of the invasion. An emphasis
is put on the need to detect exotic species at an
early stage through the establishment of a detection
network among the environmental
agents (267) and the staff of the 18 natural
parks of the Valencia region. Adequate training
to members will be provided so that they will
be able to identify species in the field. Urgent
eradication, without the need to draft control
plans is also considered. An important step to
prevent failure of eradication campaigns has
been adopted. In compliance with the forestry
law the Valencia Region, the competent environmental
authority is entitled to delimit areas
affected by an invasive species and to declare
eradication works of public interest. This
means that landowners affected by the declaration
of public interest must allow eradication
works within their properties to proceed and the
establishment of appropriate measures to prevent
dispersal.
This decree is the first Spanish regulation to
prohibit sale of exotic species and to establish
a catalogue of alien species to which legally
binding limitations apply.
An abridged English version of this Decree can
be obtained upon request at deltoro_vic@gva.es
Identification key to marine invasive species
in Nordic waters.
On the International Day for Biological Diver-
sity 22 May 2010, NOBANIS (The North European
and Baltic Network on Invasive Alien
Species) will launch an Identification key to
marine invasive species in Nordic waters on the
portal www.nobanis.org
The identification key will guide persons in the
administration of invasive alien species and
others with an interest in marine life in identifying
their marine specimens.
The invasive Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, which can
form oyster reefs and outcompete related native species.
Photo: Christian Christiansen.
The key will lead to illustrated fact sheets of
the individual species with focus on the latest
information in the invasive status and distribution.
It will cover crustaceans, crabs and lobsters,
barnacles, gastropods, chironomid insect larvae,
tunicates, bivalves, parasites, hydroids,
polychaetes, ctenophores and some fish. The
key will include comparisons between easily
confused native and invasive species.
Invasive alien species are a considerable
threat to biological diversity. It is therefore
imperative to be able to distinguish alien
species from native in order to monitor
changes caused by these species in local
ecosystems.
This key is the first Nordic project making updated
taxonomic expertise on marine species
more readily available to non-specialists.
For more information please contact the
NOBANIS secretariat on +45 72542418 or
nobanis@sns.dk
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