2011 Assessment of Capacity Building Needs for National Biodiversity Priorities INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES IN GUYANA: ASSESSMENT REPORT, NATIONAL STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) GUYANA BIODIVERSITY ENABLING ACTIVITY PROJECT (BEAP) ASSESSMENT OF CAPACITY BUILDING NEEDS: INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES IN GUYANA NATIONAL STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ganges Street, Sophia, Georgetown, GUYANA Tel.: (592) 225 2062, 225 5467-9, 225-6048 225-6044, 225-0506, 225-1218, 225-5370 Fax: (592) 225 5481 Email: [email protected] Website: www.epaguyana.org TABLE OF COTENTS LIST OF BOXES ........................................................................................................................... V LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... VII CASE STUDIES ......................................................................................................................... VIII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................. IX ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................ X LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................... XII GLOSSARY OF KEY TERMS ...................................................................................................... XIII 1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ 1 2.0 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 SCOPE/OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................................................... 3 2.2 DELIVERABLES................................................................................................................................. 3 2.3 DETAILS OF THE METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................... 3 3.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 4 3.1 THE PROBLEM OF INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES ......................................................................................... 7 3.2 THE INVASION PROCESS ................................................................................................................... 7 3.3 THE ROOT CAUSES OF INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES PROBLEMS AND THE NEED FOR MAINSTREAMING ............... 8 4.0 ASSESSMENT OF IAS STATUS IN GUYANA ......................................................................... 10 4.1 MAJOR IAS THREATS IN GUYANA .................................................................................................... 12 4.1.1 Invasive alien plants species ................................................................................................... 13 4.1.2 Invasive alien vertebrates species ........................................................................................... 16 4.1.3 Invasive alien invertebrates species ........................................................................................ 19 5.0 MAIN PATHWAYS AND VECTORS OF INTRODUCTION ........................................................ 23 5.1 PATHWAYS FOR IAS ENTRY IN GUYANA ............................................................................................ 26 5.1.1 Ballast Water ........................................................................................................................ 27 5.1.2 Marine Biofouling................................................................................................................... 29 5.1.3 Aquaria Releases ................................................................................................................... 30 5.1.4 Marine transportation and trade ............................................................................................ 31 5.1.5 Tourism ................................................................................................................................. 33 5.1.6 Other key pathways of concern for Guyana ............................................................................ 34 5.2 VECTORS OF SPREAD AFTER INTRODUCTION FROM NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES ...................................... 36 6.0 EVALUATION OF GUYANA’S POLICY AND INSTITUTIONAL BASELINE ............................... 38 6.1 INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT FOR ACTION ............................................................................................. 38 6.2 REGIONAL CONTEXT FOR ACTION ..................................................................................................... 41 6.3 NATIONAL CONTEXT: INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK IN GUYANA ........................................................... 43 6.4 NATIONAL CONTEXT: POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK IN GUYANA ............................................. 45 6.5 CHALLENGES AND PRIORITIES FOR THE IAS STRATEGY AND ACTION PLAN ............................................ 54 7.0 NATIONAL STRATEGY ON INVASIVE ALIEN SPECIES .......................................................... 59 7.1 DEVELOPMENT AND CONTENT OF THE STRATEGY .............................................................................. 59 iii 7.2 WHO IS THE STRATEGY FOR? ........................................................................................................... 59 7.3 OVERVIEW OF THE NATIONAL IAS STRATEGY .................................................................................... 60 7.4 OPERATIONAL ELEMENTS OF THE NATIONAL IAS STRATEGY ............................................................... 60 7.5 APPROACH TO IAS MANAGEMENT UNDER THE NATIONAL IAS STRATEGY ............................................ 61 7.5.1 Prevention ............................................................................................................................. 61 7.5.2 Early detection ....................................................................................................................... 61 7.5.3 Eradication and control .......................................................................................................... 61 8.0 COMPONENTS OF IAS MANAGEMENT AND PRIORITY ACTIONS OF THE NATIONAL STRATEGY ............................................................................................................................... 63 8.1 PREVENTION ................................................................................................................................ 63 8.1.1 Risk assessment .................................................................................................................... 64 8.1.2 Vectors and pathways assessment ........................................................................................ 64 8.1.3 Prevention measures (quarantine, inspection, border control) ................................................. 64 8.2 EARLY DETECTION AND RAPID RESPONSE (EDRR) .............................................................................. 65 8.3 ERADICATION, CONTROL AND MONITORING ...................................................................................... 67 8.4 LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND PUBLIC POLICIES ........................................................................................ 69 8.4.1 Public policies ........................................................................................................................ 69 8.4.2 Legal regulations ................................................................................................................... 70 8.5 CAPACITY BUILDING ....................................................................................................................... 70 8.5.1 Official list of invasive alien species ........................................................................................ 70 8.5.2 For early detection and rapid response .....................................................................................71 8.5.3 For prevention measures .........................................................................................................71 8.5.4 For eradication and control activies .........................................................................................71 8.5.5 For teachers and professors .................................................................................................... 72 8.6 INFORMATION AND EDUCATION SYSTEM ........................................................................................... 72 8.7 PUBLIC AWARENESS ....................................................................................................................... 73 8.8 RESEARCH .................................................................................................................................... 74 9.0 ACTION PLAN .................................................................................................................. 75 10.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................... 82 REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................................