Jump to:
- RAPID Revelations! A Virtual End of Project Conference
- Brussels event - Exchanging experience on the management of IAS in Europe (December 2019)
- Biosecurity event in Concarneau (France) May 2019
RAPID Revelations! A Virtual End of Project Conference
RAPID Revelations Agenda (PDF)
Speaker Presentations
- GB Keynote Speaker, Dr. Niall Moore - The GB INNS Strategy - What Now?
- International Keynote Speaker, Dr. Piero Genovesi - Addressing Invasive Species Through Collaboration and Involvement
- Alexia Fish - RAPID Revelations!
- Neil Green - Large-scale Project South West. Classic Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed Control
- Sarah Brown - RAPID LIFE and Support for Marine biosecurity
- Jen Nightingale - Crayfish Conservation Through RAPID LIFE
- Andrea Griffiths - The South East Regional Invasive Alien Species Managment Plan
- Nicola Morris and Kate Hills - AQUA and the Guardians of the Lakes - Biosecurity Accreditation Pilot Scheme
- Kate Pollard and Corin Pratt - The Biological Control of Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam
Request a copy of the presentations.
Recordings
RAPID LIFE's Virtual End of Project Conference (RAPID Revelations!) was recorded on Zoom on the day of the conference in two parts.
Watch the morning session (Part 1) of the conference
Want more information on crayfish conservation?
Read more on Bristol Zoo's white-clawed crayfish conservation project (which was supported by RAPID LIFE) on their website (external link) This includes a link where you can donate to help support Bristol Zoo's amazing work.
Brussels event - Exchanging experience on the management of IAS in Europe (December 2019)
A joint event between RAPID Life and the Belgian Forum on Invasive Species (BFIS)
18th of December 2019 at Brussels Environment
The RAPID Life Project (Reducing and Preventing IAS Dispersal) and the Belgian Forum on Invasive Species (BFIS) co-organised an event in Brussels to facilitate the exchange of information on IAS prevention and management between stakeholders in different European countries. The event looked at the ways in which the EU Regulation 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species is being implemented in different EU member states, and brought together EU Life Projects working on IAS in different European countries in order to share information and encourage collaboration.
Objectives:
- To explore how the EU Regulation 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species is being interpreted and implemented in different EU member states; to encourage discussion, information exchange, and collaboration on this.
- To showcase some of the many different EU-Funded Life projects that are currently working on IAS management and prevention in Europe and to explore some of the problems and solutions encountered by these projects, in the hope that this may prove useful to other such projects.
- To bring together EU Life Projects working on IAS in Europe, and other stakeholders working on IAS management and prevention in Europe in order to facilitate information exchange and promote collaboration.
Participants:
The event brought together stakeholders working on IAS prevention and management in different EU countries. These include: scientific researchers, project managers, conservation organisations, national and regional government, and representatives of the European Commission. EU Life Projects currently working on IAS were invited to attend and present. The event aimed to bring together a variety of stakeholders from as many EU Member States as possible.
Duration and programme:
The event lasted one day, divided into a morning and an afternoon session. View the programme for the event (PDF)
The morning session featured representatives from different EU member states talking about how the EU Regulation 1143/2014 on Invasive Alien Species is being implemented in their countries. This was followed by a discussion in which all attendees were welcome to participate.
After lunch, the afternoon session began with a presentation from a keynote speaker (Andy Sheppard, CSIRO Australia) on novel technologies for the prevention, surveillance and control of IAS.
The afternoon continued with a series of presentations from different Life Projects working on IAS in different European countries about the lessons they have learned that may be useful to other projects.
If you would like more information on the event, please contact rebecca.jones@apha.gov.uk or alexia.fish@apha.gov.uk
Read more on the BFIS (external link).
Outcomes
The event was a huge success and, despite rail strikes in Belgium and France, was attended by nearly 200 people from 17 countries. There were a considerable number of people who were interested in attending but were unable to - we are including these people in the outcomes we send out to attendees. Taken all together, this means that the event has reached over 300 people from 20 countries.
There was a considerable amount of interest expressed in presenting work at this event and unfortunately we were not able to provide a time slot for all of those who had work they wished to contribute. We apologise to those we could not include and thank the many of these who attended the event and participated in the discussion. We were extremely lucky to have such a diverse and enthusiastic group of attendees, which created a very interesting discussion. We are also extremely thankful to all our speakers for giving such interesting and informative presentations.
For the morning session, we were lucky enough to have full presentations from 4 EU member states (Belgium, The Netherlands, France, and The United Kingdom), with further information provided from another 2 (Germany and Spain). The morning's discussion was open to all the attendees, and was extremely interesting, featuring insights from many different countries and from people working in many different areas and with different species.
Andy Sheppard gave an inspiring talk about the role of new technologies in the surveillance and control of IAS. It was also very useful to have an Australian perspective during the discussion. The afternoon session then featured presentations on 6 different IAS Life Projects and initiatives, involving 9 countries. We were extremely lucky to have Myriam Dumortier from the European Commission present the closing remarks, which included a great many inspiring ideas for the future.
It is hoped that this event has provided an opportunity for those working with IAS in different capacities and in different countries to meet and exchange information and ideas, and perhaps to help form new networks and collaborations for the future.
Unfortunately, Germany's representative was unable to attend on the day due to illness. However, they sent us the powerpoint presentation they were due to give, and we have included it here, along with a report on the analysis and prioritisation of IAS pathways in Germany (PDF) (Rabitsch et al. 2018. Analysis and prioritisation of pathways of unintentional introduction and spread of invasive alien species in Germany in accordance with Regulation (EU) no 1143/2014).
Presentations in programme order:
- Belgium (PDF) (Jane Reniers and Dido Gosse - The Belgian Scientific Secretariat on Invasive Alien Species)
- The United Kingdom (PDF) (Alexia Fish - APHA on behalf of DEFRA's Invasive Non-native Species Team)
- France (PDF) (Emmanuelle Sarat - IUCN French Committee and François Delaquaize - French Ministry of Ecology)
- The Netherlands (PDF) (Henk Groenewoud - The Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food Quality)
- Germany (PDF) (Annika Tiesmeyer - The German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation - not presented at the event)
- Keynote presentation: Novel technologies for the prevention, surveillance, and control of IAS (PDF) (Andy Sheppard, CSIRO Australia)
- RAPID Life (PDF) - England (Alexia Fish - Animal and Plant Health Agency and Corin Pratt - CABI)
- Life ARTEMIS (PDF) - Slovenia (Maarten de Groot - Slovenian Forestry Institute)
- Life MICA (PDF) - Belgium, The Netherlands, and Germany (Margreet van Willegen - Waterschap Rivierenland)
- ALIENS (PDF) - The Italian Network of IAS Life Projects (Elena Tricario - University of Florence)
- Life IAS-Free Habitats (PDF) - Bulgaria (Svetlana Aladjem and Dimitrina Boteva - Information and Nature Conservation Foundation)
- Life INVASAQUA (PDF) - Spain and Portugal (Rosa Olivo del Amo - University of Murcia)
Request a copy of the presentations.
Film of the event
Transcripts:
English Language Transcripts:
Morning Session (Part 1)
Afternoon Session (Part 2)
Morning Session as spoken (no translation)
Biosecurity event in Concarneau (France) May 2019
About the event
On 16 and 17 May 2019, a cross-border information exchange event took place in Concarneau, Brittany (France) which was co-organised by the Animal and Plant Health Agency, who are leading the EU-funded RAPID LIFE project and the French IAS Resource Centre (Centre de Ressources sur les EEE). The event focused on biosecurity for preventing the spread of invasive alien ('non-native') species in aquatic marine and freshwater environments.
The event was held at the Marinarium in Concarneau (part of the French National Museum of Natural History's network) and was attended by nearly 50 people from several different countries and representing a wide variety of stakeholder affected by invasive alien species in aquatic environments. The idea was to share knowledge, expertise, and ideas between countries and stakeholder groups in the hope of collectively improving biosecurity and preventing the spread of invasive alien species in these environments.
Talks were given by experts in the field from France, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and Belgium. Stakeholders who attended included scientific reserachers in the field of IAS in marine and freshwater environments, water companies, habitat managers, associations of recreational water users (anglers and boaters), local and national government, and representatives of the European Commission. Simultaneous interpreters helped to facilitate communication, enthusiastic discussions were held, and potential future collaborations were identified.
View the:
- Full programme (PDF)
- List of attendees (PDF)
- Summary of the event in English (PDF) and French (PDF)
- An article on the event (PDF) from the French IAS Resource centre
The objectives of the event were:
- To discuss issues relating to IAS in aquatic freshwater and marine environments and to raise awareness of these issues amongst stakeholders
- To go over the existing legislation on IAS at the national, European, and global levels
- To share experience of biosecurity measures gained in Great Britain on projects such as RAPID Life and the Check, Clean, Dry campaign
- To identify key target audiences for education and awareness campaigns in France and to share biosecurity resources
- To exchange information and good practice and to encourage communication and collaboration between stakeholders and between countries
Inspired by this experience, we will continue to work together at an international level and to encourage the exchange of information within European and international networks.
All of the presentations given during the event can be accessed online on the French IAS Resource Centre's website, along with other relevant documents
For more information
- On the RAPID Life project: contact Alexia Fish (alexia.fish@apha.gov.uk )
- On the French IAS Resource Centre, see their website (external link), or contact Emmanuelle Sarat (emmanuelle.sarat@uicn.fr )
