Senior Research Scientist Maiju Lehtiniemi at the research vessel Aranda
A correspondence on invasive species was just published in the high level scientific journal, Nature. In this Letter led by a senior scientist Maiju Lehtiniemi from SYKE’s Marine Research Centre the researchers wish that the EU Regulation would concentrate on potential invasive species. The EU Regulation and the new national law on invasive alien species aim to minimize the harm caused by alien species. The goal is to prevent the spread, introduction to nature, transport and culturing of the most harmful alien species that threaten the biodiversity.
EU has listed now 37 target species and the list will be continuously updated. 35 of these listed species occur already in EU, and 14 of them are widely spread in Europe. The eradication is however often impossible and costly if a species is already widely spread and abundant. It would be more cost-efficient to concentrate on potential invasive alien species not yet wide-spread in EU. This should be the goal of the target species list updates.
More information
Senior Research Scientist Maiju Lehtiniemi, SYKE Marine Research Centre, Tel. +358 295 251 356, firstname.lastname@ymparisto.fi
Correspondence Letter in Nature