This work is taking place through an IUCN led project, carried out for the European Commission, on the humane management of these IAS of Union concern. IUCN is looking to identify good practices that are both effective and take into account considerations for the impact on animal welfare. We are looking for measures, both lethal and non-lethal, that have been successfully used to eradicate, control or contain any of the 22 vertebrate IAS of Union concern.  If you have been part of such management actions, or know of any, please submit your case study through our online questionnaire.

Alien, or non-native, species are animals, plants, or other organisms introduced by humans, either intentionally or accidentally, into areas outside their natural range. Alien species that establish populations and cause severe impacts to biodiversity and ecosystems are known as ‘invasive’ alien species. Due to the increase in the movement of people and goods around the world, the introduction of species to new areas is also increasing, and is one of the top threats driving biodiversity loss. Invasive alien species also have a strong negative impact on ecosystem services, economic activities and human livelihoods around the world.

In 2015, the EU IAS Regulation came into force; at its core is a list of IAS of Union concern, 22 of which are vertebrate species. The regulation places responsibility on Member States to undertake management actions to guarantee the eradication, control and containment of these IAS of Union concern, in order to minimise their impact on biodiversity, ecosystem services, human health and the economy. However, it also requires that animals are spared any avoidable pain, distress or suffering when applying these management measures.

This EU-funded project aims to provide support to those implementing such humane management measures of invasive alien vertebrate species, in order to strengthen the application of the EU IAS Regulation.

The project consortium has prepared a draft manual on feasible and humane management measures for vertebrate IAS, with a view to eradicating, controlling and/or containing their populations. This manual is being reviewed and adapted to local conditions through a series of workshops taking place across the EU between March and June of this year. To support the uptake of the manual, we are seeking good practice case studies on the humane management of the 22 vertebrate IAS of Union concern. These good practices will also be reviewed at the workshops and a selection of these, ideally one per species, will be presented at the project’s final conference taking place in 2022.