Alien Species.vp - IUCN

Preface
Expanding international trade is moving ever more organisms more rapidly around the world,
thereby increasing the threat that some of these species could be harmful to native ecosystems
and human economic interests. So many goods are moving so quickly that government efforts
to prevent unwanted invasions are being overwhelmed. In response to these concerns, the
Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) was developed beginning in January 1996.
Formally established in 1997, GISP is operated by a consortium of the Scientific Committee on
Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), CABInternational (CABI), the World Conservation
Union (IUCN), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). GISP is a
component of DIVERSITAS, an international programme on biodiversity science. The goal of
GISP is to enable governments and other organizations to use the best practices available to
control Invasive Alien Species (IAS) and to promote the development of additional tools and
strategies needed to improve global management of IAS.
With funding from many sources, GISP seeks to improve the scientific basis for decision
making on invasive species; develop capacities to employ early warning, rapid assessment and
response systems; enhance the ability to manage invasives; reduce the economic impacts of
invasives and control methods; develop better risk assessment methods; and strengthen
international agreements. GISP strives to develop public education about invasive species,
improve understanding of the ecology of invasives, examine legal and institutional frameworks
for controlling invasives, develop new codes of conduct for the movement of species, and
develop new tools for quantifying the impact of invasives. GISP’s work involves dozens of
scientists, lawyers, and resource managers from all parts of the world. More information about
GISP can be found at its Website: http://jasper.stanford.edu/gisp.
GISP recognizes that it is dealing with dynamic ecosystems; it does not advocate attempts to
“freeze” any particular ecosystem in an imagined pristine state. Rather, it realizes that active
management of human effects on ecosystems is required in a time of increasing human impact.
This book is one product of Phase I of GISP and is designed to explore some of the human
dimensions of the problem of invasive alien species.
As part of the GISP Programme, a workshop on these human dimensions was held in Cape
Town, South Africa on 15 to 17 September. The overall management of the GISP process was
in the capable hands of Professor Harold Mooney of Stanford University, with very able
support from Laurie Neville. Veronique Plocq-Fichelet provided steadfast support from ICSU-
SCOPE in Paris. The workshop would not have been possible without the support of Jamie
Reaser, from the US Department of State. The US Department of State provided the main
financial support to enable the workshop to be held, while the Swiss Development Cooperation
(SDC) provided additional financial support. At the Cape Town workshop, Guy Preston of the
Working for Water Programme was responsible for making the workshop facilities available
and providing very considerable logistics support. Karoline Hanks, Gadija Williams, Dumi
Magadlela and Simone Noemdoe, from the Working for Water Programme, played essential
roles in making the Cape Town workshop a success. Phyllis Windle kindly acted as rapporteur
and synthesizer at the Cape Town workshop. We are all very grateful as well to Brian Huntley
for his outstanding hospitality at Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town. The
production of these proceedings depended very much on Sue Rallo, who was responsible for
managing the production process and handling all correspondence. I received useful comments
from Channa Bambaradeniya, Pierre Binggeli, Maj de Poorter, Llewellyn Foxcroft, Piero
Genovesi, Johan Hattingh, Peter Jenkins, David Le Maitre, Tim Low, Dick Mack, Jamie
Reaser, Dave Richardson, George Staples, Mark Williamson and Phyllis Windle. Pierre
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