Of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) Status and Management, Saint Lucia, 2010
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Critical Situation Analysis (CSA) of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) Status and Management, Saint Lucia, 2010 carried out under the project Mitigating the Threats of Invasive Alien Species in the Insular Caribbean Project No. GFL / 2328 – 2713-4A86, GF-1030-09-03 Ulrike Krauss IAS Coordinator Forestry Department Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry and Fisheries (MALFF) Union, September 2010 Critical Situation Analysis (CSA) of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) Status and Management, Saint Lucia, 2010 Table of Content Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 2 Context, Scope and Objectives ............................................................................................... 4 Historic Overview ..................................................................................................................... 7 Saint Lucia’s Environmental Profile ..................................................................................... 11 Protected Areas and Other Areas of High Conservation Value ............................................. 12 Biodiversity Baseline Assessments ....................................................................................... 16 Terrestrial Ecosystems...................................................................................................... 17 Aquatic Ecosystems .......................................................................................................... 18 IAS Inventories ....................................................................................................................... 20 IAS in Terrestrial Ecosystems ............................................................................................... 28 IAS in Aquatic Ecosystems ................................................................................................... 30 Legislation and Policy ........................................................................................................... 33 National Legislation .............................................................................................................. 33 National Policy ...................................................................................................................... 38 Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and International Instruments ..................... 40 Sectoral Involvement ............................................................................................................ 47 National Stakeholder Mapping .......................................................................................... 47 Active Involvement in Regional and International Initiatives, Including Databases ............ 48 Public Awareness, Education and Capacity Building ......................................................... 55 Prevention .............................................................................................................................. 57 Pathways .............................................................................................................................. 61 Risk Assessment .................................................................................................................. 65 Off-shore Islands Management for the Establishment of Metapopulation of Critical Species 65 Background to Component 4 Pilot Project Site and Activities ................................................ 67 Maria Islands and the Pointe Sable Environmental Protection Area (PSEPA) ................... 67 Early Detection, Rapid Response and IAS Control: ............................................................ 70 Agricultural Pests and Diseases ........................................................................................... 70 Impact Assessment .............................................................................................................. 71 Economic Assessment of Saint Lucia‟s Natural Resources and Related Benefits ............. 72 Conservation Cost Recovery ............................................................................................ 76 Climate Change and IAS Management ................................................................................. 78 Background to Component 5 Pilot Project Site and Activities ................................................ 81 Saint Lucia‟s Native Iguana ............................................................................................... 81 Arrival of the Alien Iguana in Saint Lucia ........................................................................... 82 Control of the Alien Invasive Iguana .................................................................................. 84 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 84 1 References.............................................................................................................................. 84 Appendices............................................................................................................................. 93 Appendix 1: List of Acronyms ............................................................................................... 93 Appendix 2: List of freshwater macroinvetebrates from Saint Lucia ...................................... 96 Appendix 3: Contact list of IAS experts in Saint Lucia in August, 2010. ................................ 99 Executive Summary This Critical Situation Analysis (CSA) provides an overview of occurrence, trends in distribution of most problematic Invasive Alien Species (IAS), in Saint Lucia, including an assessment of pathways and on-going management approaches. It assesses gaps in existing institutional, legislative and policy frameworks, building on earlier studies, and should be read together with several cited reports prepared in parallel as inputs into the National Invasive Species Strategy (NISS). Early sections describe Saint Lucia’s environmental profile, including protected areas, marine reserves, and other sites of high conservation value. Both biodiversity baselines assessments and IAS inventories are discussed regarding their merits and limitations. Generally terrestrial ecosystems are better understood than aquatic ones, where baseline studies are scarce, poorly documented where they exist, and the origin of species is often unknown. As early as 1998, Saint Lucia published a biodiversity baseline study that formally recognized 13 agricultural and livestock pests as IAS. The first review of regional scope that followed in 2003, only rated four of 37 exotics in Saint Lucia as invasive. In the current CSA, total of 124 IAS present in Saint Lucia are collated and presented with a status assessment: 104 in terrestrial, six in marine and 16 in freshwater ecosystems, with two species occurring on more than one ecosystem Twelve species belong to the “100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species” list. Twenty-one invasive species (IS) present in Saint Lucia are flagged as potential risk to other countries where they may still be absent, nine of which belong to the “100 World’s Worst IAS”. However, there is no evidence of species originating from Saint Lucia have become invasive elsewhere and most of the species listed are of pantropical distribution already. A total of 40 IAS absent from Saint Lucia are flagged as priority for prevention and/or monitoring: 17 terrestrial, 18 marine and five freshwater IAS; three belong to the “100 World’s Worst IAS”. Projects since the 1990s have been concerned primarily with human and animal health as well as agricultural pests. Management focussed on disrupting pathways and relevant reviews on these efforts are cited. The need for a strategic approach and an IAS policy was expressed as early as 2006. By that time, IAS were rated as top threat to invertebrates, mammals, reptiles and birds, and as second most important threat (following habitat loss) for plants. The initial phase of the current GEF-funded project 2 commenced in 2006. It concentrated on IAS threats to native biodiversity in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems for the first time and also stressed the need for a broad stakeholder base as well as regional collaboration. The Full Size Project (FSP) has five common components in five pilot countries; the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago: 1. Development of National Invasive Species Strategies (NISS). 2. Caribbean-wide Cooperation and Regional IAS Strategy (RISS) 3. Information and Knowledge Generation, Management, and Dissemination 4. Prevention of IAS in Terrestrial, Freshwater and Marine Systems. A pilot project in Saint Lucia addresses the protection of the unique biodiversity of Maria Islands Nature Reserve and the surrounding Point Sables Environmental Protected Area (PSEPA). 5. Early Detection, Rapid Response and Control of IAS Impacts in Terrestrial, Freshwater and Marine Systems. In Saint Lucia the pilot project aims to eradicate an alien species of iguana that was introduced into the Soufriere area and thereby threatens the uniqueness of the native iguana. IAS managers need to acknowledge evolution as a dynamic process. When deciding whether or not to manage a species, its invasive behaviour, not its origin (alien, native or uncertain) should be the main criterion. The focus is on populations of IS, with priority being given to devastating pathogens, particularly vulnerable