Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has mooted a policy to prevent and control the invasion of terrestrial and aquatic alien species in the State.
Inaugurating a two-day national conference organised by the Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB) on ‘Bioinvasions – trends, threats and management’ on Saturday, he also emphasised the need to gather information on invasive species at the regional level, considering the increasing prevalence of biological invasions that are triggered by natural disasters such as floods and droughts.
“Studies conducted by the KSBB in the wake of the floods of 2018 highlighted the escape of alien fish species from aquaculture farms. An increased presence of alien species was particularly observed in the Kuttanad river systems. These included Rainbow fish, Mozambique tilapia, African sharp-tooth catfish, Giant gourami and Red-belied Pacu. Of the seven species that had been recorded for the first time from the Western Ghats, some were illegally introduced by the aquarium pet trade. These did not figure among those species that could be imported to the country,” the Chief Minister pointed out.
He also raised caution towards the worrying presence of alien species Senna spectabilis and Lantana camara that have been spotted in all the 36 forest divisions in the State. A State-level bio-invasion eradication project has been taken by the Forest department to eradicate Senna spectabilis which poses a major threat to the forest areas of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve including the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary owing to its rapid growth, Mr. Vijayan said.
Similarly, snail eradication programmes are being implemented as part of the government’s ‘One Health’ project in view of the proliferation of Giant African snails since the 2018 floods.
The KSBB, he added, has commenced work on the second part of the People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBR) by updating the existing ones and generating detailed information on invasive species locally. The statutory body is also preparing regional biodiversity management action plans based on the PBRs during the current financial year.
Additional Chief Secretary, Environment Department, V. Venu presided over the inaugural session. KSBB chairman C. George Thomas, member secretary A.V. Santhoshkumar and member K.V. Govindan also spoke.
Shiroma Sathyapala, Forestry Protection and Health Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), delivered the keynote address. Former Director of ICAR – Directorate of Coldwater Fisheries Research A.K. Singh and former fellow of National Biodiversity Authority Sambandam Sandilyan also delivered special talks.
