Download Repairing the threads - Invasive Species Ireland

Getting your act together...
Partnerships & collaboration
for the management of
invasive species
Dr Jill Key
International Training Centre
Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust
Lessons from the
Pacific
Why do we need partnerships?
- Multi-sector committees
- Peer-learning network
Benefits and challenges from
partnerships
Why form
partnerships?
• Strategies rely on
partnerships
• They offer opportunities for
collaboration and
coordination
• These are not always easy
• Invasives management is
about people management
Introduced species in populated
zones, Galápagos
The Galápagos
Islands
• Galápagos is a province of
Ecuador
• There are 120 islands, of
which 15 are large and 4
inhabited
• 97% of the province is
National Park
• 95% of the original
biodiversity is intact
• Population is around 25,000
*
*
*
*
Arrival of species in
Galápagos
GROUP
NATURAL ARRIVAL
1 species each…
ARRIVAL SINCE 1535
1 species each…
Vertebrates
50.000 years
16 – 20 years
Inverts
2.000 years
1.6 years
Plants
10.000 years
1 years
Introduced species
2500
2000
Native
species
1500
1000
Introduced
species
500
0
Vertebrates
Invetetebrates
Vascular plants
Introduced species in populated areas
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Street dogs and cats
Introduced pigeons
Rats
Mice
Frogs
Mosquitoes
Weeds
Expensive problem
• For example, rat control in the
urban zone is an expensive
issue.
– Baits
– Labour
– Supervision
– Follow-up and data handling
• It is the responsibility of the
municipalities, but they do not
have the money or man power to
do it.
Do it together – the “CIMEIs”
• In each of the 3 cantons, a multi-institutional committee
(“CIMEI”) was created, chaired by the mayor.
• A local ordinance was passed to create each one.
Key local organisations
joined in each case:
National Park, Charles
Darwin Foundation,
Police, Navy, Health,
Education, Agriculture,
Quarantine, NGOs,
Agriculture Centre, etc.
United action
The CIMEI as an entity
can do things which
one organisation
cannot, for financial,
logistic or political
reasons.
Santa Cruz
• Formally created in
2004, but functioning
informally since 2003.
• 12 members
• 1 full time coordinator
and secretary
Activities – Dengue mosquito
– Dengue mosquito
control since 2003,
together with the
National Malaria
Control Programme.
– Dengue cases have
fallen to nearly zero,
and they are
considering eradication
of the mosquito.
Activities – rat control
• Protocol produced from 2
years experience in San
Cristóbal
• The first rat control
campaign began in
August 2005.
• Focus is on public areas.
Activities – street dogs
• All have an owner, but
are left on the street
• The focus is on
“responsible ownership”
• Pet register and license
• 524 sterilizations
• 120 euthanized
Reason for euthanasia
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Attack iguana
Attack
people
Owners
request
Captures
Conclusions
Collaboration has huge
benefits.
The future:
• Invasive plants
• The agricultural zones
• But…
• Political instability
• Insecure funding
Blackberry, Santa Cruz
Island.
Turning Words into Actions:
Peer-learning in the Pacific
The problem
• Lack of technical
capacity
• Lack of information
• Over tasked
• Under staffed
• Isolation
Pacific Invasives
Learning Network
•
•
•
•
•
•
Launched in 2006
Partnership of 11
Capacity building mission
Multi-sector teams
Share skills and knowledge
Exchanges and
attachments
• Training courses
• Participant driven
What makes PILN different
• Enables multi-sectoral action at a
range of levels
• Helps people identify their priorities—
the battles they can win—and
supports what they want to do
• Simple and very cost-effective
• Action oriented
• Recognises and supports the growing
body of expertise within the Pacific
• Catalyses action by fostering and
sustaining enthusiasm
Achievements
• Expanded to 13 country
teams
• 2 network meetings
• Strategic action planning
in 6 countries
• 9 workshops / training
events in the priority
issues
• 14 exchanges /
attachments
©NPS Tavita Togia
Priority issues for capacity building
•
•
•
•
•
•
Rat eradication in tropical island environment
Weed management
Biosecurity
Social marketing
Marine invasive species
Planning
Social marketing
• Community involvement is essential
• Public awareness is part of a process to change
attitudes and behaviour
• Part of all projects
• Working with RARE for Nature Conservation
Marine invasive species
• Not recognised as an
issue before the network
• Tilapia is still being
actively farmed...
Strategic action planning
• Perhaps the main activity
which has taken off
• 6 countries/states
• Establishing national
coordination mechanism,
using the CIMEI as a
model
• 3 day workshops, then
periodic meetings, annual
reviews
Process
• Usually a 3-day workshop
• Identify strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities
and threats (SWOT)
• Mission, goal, objectives
• Action plans
– Multi-sector
– 3-year vision
– 1-year road map
• National endorsement
• Within existing planning
processes
PILN as a model
• External review done in 2008
found PILN had exceeded
expectations
• It is highly valued by its
country participants and is
well-placed to contribute to
real outcomes on the ground
• Is a good model for other
regions or sectors
What we have learned
• Multi-sector participant teams are
excellent
• The intangible benefits of network
participation are huge
• A proactive full-time coordinator is
important to build and establish the
network.
• Communication and facilitation are two
of the principal activities of the
coordinator—creating awareness of
successful projects, showing teams
how to follow and supporting them
through the process.
The future
• Expand to all 22 countries,
states and territories in the
Pacific
• Continue to build capacity
and confidence
– Manage more invasive
species
– Protect more endangered
species
– Sustainable livelihoods
Some other benefits
from strategies and
partnerships
Leverage funding –
at the right scale
• Educate the donors
– Enough to see it
through
– Preparation and
monitoring, not just
eradication
• The last individual is
the most costly
Be more ambitious – ecosystem approach
• Step up from species by
species
• Island restoration
• Funding and knowledge
issues
• Need long-term buy-in
Link research, policy
and management
•
•
•
•
Targeted research
Political support
Pick battles you can win
Clear objectives - Why is
the invasive species being
managed?
Support species champions
• Invasives have champions
too!
• Champions are the main
reason for project success
• Are they born or made?
Organisation – or
individual?
• Long-term
• Support through networks,
eg ITC
Share knowledge - the system is not
static
• Ecosystems are complex
• Every introduction and every
eradication is a single,
unreplicated experiment
• An introduced species undergoes
rapid evolution to its new habitat
conditions, eg
– Changes in life history features
– Host shifts in herbivores
• This can happen very fast and
effects can be unpredictable
Conclusions
• Partnerships do accelerate
actions
• Need formal structure and
clear roles
• Peer learning +
encouragement + support
• It’s crisis management in a
war zone
If you want to go fast, go
alone
If you want to go far, go
together
Questions?