MS 37 The difficult combat against exotic invasive species

On February 10-14, 2020, Julien Chalifour went to Martinique to participate in a national workshop on the management of exotic invasive species as organized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in France. The point person for this field in Saint Martin, Julien Chalifour worked alongside other experts from metropolitan France and almost all of the overseas territories, all concerned by this important subject. This workshop provided an opportunity to synthesize the current challenges for each territory, to identify the strongest threats, current and future, and to share the results of each participant’s experiences. The invasion by exotic species constitutes one of the principal causes of erosion of the diversity in the overseas territories, the principal French reservoir of biodiversity. This problem, exacerbated by trade and transport as established by humans, is complex and expensive to manage. A good awareness campaign and early detection are among the tools of good management and help limit the resources and costs, yet often these things are put in place when it’s already too late. Knowing that the European Union requires its members to continue the fight against exotic invasive species, the working made a list of all the data provided, in order to make recommendations to send to the directors of decision-making institutions.