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6th June 2011
INVASIVE GREY SQUIRRELS HIGHLIGHT THE NEED FOR TOUGH EU LEGISLATION
Politicians, scientists and conservationists from all over Europe met in Brussels last week to debate the subject of invasive alien species. The meeting, co-ordinated by the UKs European Squirrel Initiative, heard from a range of experts who all called for tighter measures to control the spread of invasive alien species within Europe.
The meeting held in the European Parliament in Brussels was chaired by French MEP Gaston Franco who said that, “Invasive alien species should be regarded as one of the most important environmental topics in Europe. To stop their spread it is critical to act and act quickly.”
The problem of grey squirrels in Europe was raised by no less than four speakers, Dr Piero Genovesi from IUCN highlighted the problem of grey squirrels not only in the UK but also in Italy, Dr Sandro Bertolino from the University of Turin who discussed the growing populations of American Grey Squirrels in Italy and their speed and extent of spread from Italy into the rest of Europe, François Moutou of Agence Nationale de Securité Sanitaire, ANSES, France who indicated that there are a number of different alien squirrel species present in France and Dr Craig Shuttleworth who has led the Anglesey project here in the UK to remove grey squirrels and reintroduce reds.
“The grey squirrel is an invasive and destructive pest whose range covers most of Great Britain. It out competes the native red squirrel and is the carrier of the Squirrel Pox Virus, deadly to red squirrels,” said Dr Shuttleworth.
“Anglesey has demonstrated that systematic grey squirrel control can deliver the restoration of local red squirrel populations at a landscape scale and across a broad spectrum of woodland habitats,” He added.
The meeting also heard from Pia Bucella, Director in DG Environment, who stated that “12 billion Euros are lost every year due to invasive alien species while at the global level it amounts to 1.4 trillion Euros per annum. One out of ten introduced species becomes invasive due to their ability to compete with indigenous species. This worrying problem has a major impact not only on the environment but also on the economy and human health,” she said.
A number of speakers called for comprehensive EU legislation to tackle the problem of invasive alien species. But while there were local attempts to control invasive species taking place, such as in the UK with grey squirrels, there needed to be an EU wide legislation to ensure protection, prevention and eradication of invasive alien species.
