Year 2009

Online events in the UK

Establishing comprehensive monitoring for Invasive Alien Species in Britain

Great Britain launched its Invasive Alien Species (IAS) Strategy in May 2008 and this adopted the three-stage hierarchical approach espoused by the CBD. A key section of the GB Strategy was devoted to early detection, monitoring and rapid response and this called for the establishment of a comprehensive mechanism to detect newly arrived species and monitor changes in existing IAS species distributions. Accordingly, on May 22, 2009, the new central data repository for IAS data in Britain will be launched at www.nonnativespecies.org. This will initially concentrate on enhancing existing recording schemes and gathering data on interceptions from government agencies, including those associated with Plant Health. The new data repository will go on to develop:

· Public reporting
· Comprehensive web fact sheets on 300 species
· An early warning/horizon scanning function
· Detailed analyses of trends.

Non Native Species online exhibition

The National Biodiversity Network makes UK species data available via the internet at www.nbn.org.uk. This includes data on Non Native Species and on 22nd May we will be bringing some of the key non natives to life in our online exhibition.

Here you will be able to view maps showing the distribution of some of the main creatures that have established themselves in the UK. Working in conjunction with the Non Native Species Secretariat and ARKive, as well as maps, we will bring you photographs, video clips and fact sheets in order to share key information on ten species.

The exhibition will stay online for one week. Why not take a look and find out more!