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Invasive Species Management in Mauritius: from the Reactive to The

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Invasive Species Management in Mauritius: from the Reactive to The J.R. Mauremootoo, S. Pandoo, V. Bachraz, I. Buldawoo and N.C. Cole Mauremootoo, J.R.; S. Pandoo, V. Bachraz, I. Buldawoo and N.C. Cole. Invasive species management in Mauritius: from the reactive to the proactive – the National Invasive Species Management Strategy and its implementation Invasive species management in Mauritius: from the reactive to the proactive – the National Invasive Species Management Strategy and its implementation J.R. Mauremootoo1, S. Pandoo2, V. Bachraz3, I. Buldawoo4 and N.C. Cole5,6 1InSpiral Pathways, Bristol, UK. <[email protected]>. 2UNDP, Port Louis Mauritius. 3National Parks and Conservation Service, Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security (MAIFS) Réduit, Mauritius. 4Entomology Division, MAIFS, Réduit, Mauritius. 5Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, Jersey. 6Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, Vacoas, Mauritius. Abstract This account provides the context behind the need to implement an integrated, cross-sectoral approach to Invasive Alien Species (IAS) management in the Republic of Mauritius (RoM). The challenge of increased travel, tourism and transport is enumerated and the history of IAS entry, establishment and spread in the RoM before and since the formulation of the National Invasive Alien Species Strategy and Action Plan for the Republic of Mauritius (NIASSAP) (2010-2019) is reviewed to judge the eff ectiveness of biosecurity measures at the national and sub-national level. New incursions appear to have increased since 2010. Examples include, the papaya mealybug (Paracoccus marginatus; 2013), the Oriental fruit fl y (Bactrocera dorsalis), a species that had previously been eradicated from the island (2013 and 2015) and foot and mouth disease (FMD) (Aphthae epizooticae; 2016). There have been some eff ective responses. A biological control agent was released against the papaya mealybug and fruit production has recovered, FMD has been eradicated and a campaign for eradication of B. dorsalis is underway. However, management approaches remain reactive and sectorally-driven with little cross-fertilisation of ideas and approaches. Biological control, for example, has been very actively pursued in the agricultural sector but has not been offi cially undertaken for environmental weeds since 1982. The documented incursions represent biosecurity failures that the NIASSAP was designed to address but it has yet to be systematically implemented. The growing impact of new biological invaders on all sectors of the Mauritian economy has stimulated a revival of interest in biosecurity at the governmental level and in 2016 the Government submitted a US$17M UNDP/GEF project: Mainstreaming IAS Prevention, Control and Management, which will provide the incremental cost to review, update and eff ectively initiate the implementation of the NIASSAP. Keywords: early detection and rapid response, mainstreaming, management, NISSAP, pathways, prevention, Republic of Mauritius, risk analysis INTRODUCTION The expanding IAS threat in the Republic of NIASSAP (‘the proactive’), its implementation to date and Mauritius and the adoption of the NIASSAP future prospects. The Republic of Mauritius (RoM) comprises the main A brief history of alien species establishment in island of Mauritius and Rodrigues, about 560 km to the east Mauritius of Mauritius, their associated islets, and the outer islands of Agalega, Tromelin, Cargados Carajos (St Brandon) and Vertebrate establishment the Chagos Archipelago. Mauritius and Rodrigues form Human actions resulted in the introduction of vertebrates part of the Mascarene Islands chain located in the Western to Mauritius even before the fi rst documented landing on Indian Ocean. The Mascarenes belong to one of the 25 the island, by the Dutch in 1598 (Cheke, 1987). Black internationally recognised biodiversity ‘hotspots’ (Myers, rats (Rattus rattus) probably established themselves on et al., 2000). Tropical climate, diverse topography and over Mauritius via shipwrecks and may have been responsible a million of years of isolation have resulted in the evolution for the extinction of many endemic animal species even of a diverse biota with a high degree of endemism. before colonisation. Between the fi rst Dutch landing Invasive alien species (IAS) constitute a major threat to and settlement in 1638 two major animal invaders, the the remaining biodiversity in the RoM (Florens, 2013; Javanese macaque (Macaca fascicularis) and the feral pig Virah-Sawmy, et al., 2009; Cheke & Hume, 2008). IAS (Sus scrofa) became established in Mauritius. During the also have serious economic and health impacts, especially Dutch period (1638–1710), major introductions included if the defi nition of IAS is broadened to include agricultural Javan deer (Cervus javanicus) and cats (Felis catus) which pests and zoonotic diseases. This broad conception of IAS became feral. was used when developing the country’s National Invasive Species Strategy and Action Plan 2010–2019 (NIASSAP) During French rule (1721–1810), introductions with (RoM, 2010), offi cially adopted by Cabinet in 2010. The signifi cant negative economic and environmental eff ects NIASSAP is based on the premise that the problems of included the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), the Asian house biological invasions are cross-sectoral in nature, so there shrew (Suncus murinus) and the tenrec (Tenrec ecaudatus). is a need for a harmonised approach to biosecurity that cuts across traditional sectoral boundaries. Making use The steady rate of vertebrate introductions continued of the ‘biosecurity umbrella’ will help to ensure that all under the British (1810–1968) with introductions including activities relating to species introductions and spread are the Indian wolf snake (Lycodon capucinus), the red- based upon a coordinated and science-based approach that whiskered bulbul (Pycnonotus jocosus), African landsnails is underpinned by the assessment and management of risk. (Achatina spp.) and the small Indian mongoose (Urva This paper describes some of the RoM’s IAS invasion auropunctata). trends, its expanding and diversifying IAS pathways, and Signifi cant vertebrate deliberate and accidental examples of IAS management successes and challenges introductions since independence include the Madagascar (‘the reactive’) as a backdrop to the development of the giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis), the gold-dust day In: C.R. Veitch, M.N. Clout, A.R. Martin, J.C. Russell and C.J. West (eds.) (2019). Island invasives: scaling 503 up to meet the challenge, pp. 503–509. Occasional Paper SSC no. 62. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. Island invasives: scaling up to meet the challenge. Ch 3B Strategy: Collaboration gecko (Phelsuma laticauda) and the red-eared slider Mauritius’ humid forest (Florens, et al., 2016), Ravenala (Trachemys scripta elegans). All of these introductions madagascariensis (ravenale) which forms monotypic are believed to be due to the pet trade. It would appear stands in similar climatic zones (Baret, et al., 2013), that the numbers of vertebrates establishing in the wild in Hiptage benghalensis (liane cerf) a woody climber which is Mauritius is showing no signs of a levelling off (Fig. 1). increasing in abundance in less humid forests (C. Griffi ths pers. comm. 2015) and Syzigium jambos (jamrosa) which Also of concern is the spread of vertebrates and all dominates many riverine landscapes in Mauritius and is other taxa between the islands and islets that make up one of the most widespread plant invaders in Rodrigues. the Republic of Mauritius. Rodrigues Island, the outer islands and Mauritian and Rodriguan islets harbour only Entry establishment and spread of additional species a sub-set of the invasive vertebrates found on Mauritius can exacerbate an already bad situation. For example, Island. This has conservation implications. For example: species belonging to the genus Prosopis, a known invasive carnivorous mammals have never established on Round group (Richardson, 1998) have been planted for erosion Island thus saving several endemic reptile species from control on dry mountain slopes and a proposal for the extinction (Bullock, 1986); Flat Island was home to 80% of plantation of up to 3,200 ha of Arundo donax (giant reed) is the world’s population of Bojer’s skink (Gongylomorphus being considered despite its known invasiveness (Csurhes, bojerii) until 2010 when shrews were accidentally 2009). introduced (possibly in building materials) from the Mauritian mainland causing their local extinction (Cole Insect plant pest establishment & Payne, 2015); and Rodrigues does not have Javanese macaques which, if introduced, would further threaten Williams & Ganeshan (2001) documented the their already fragile native biodiversity. These examples acceleration in insect pest establishment in Mauritius illustrate the importance of eff ective inter-island pathway from the 1970s. Data from the Entomology Division of biosecurity. the Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security (MAIFS) indicates that this rate has continued, averaging about Plant establishment one new pest record per year (Fig. 3). Recent insect pest introductions include the papaya mealybug (Paracoccus Since colonisation, more than 1,600 plant species marginatus), detected in 2013, and the yellow sugar have been introduced to Mauritius. Many of these cane aphid (Sipha fl ava), detected in 2015. These newly introductions have been desirable and others have been established pests represent a well-documented burden essential as Mauritius only has one native plant species, on the country's agricultural sector which has
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