Pacific Islands Marine Bioinvasions Alert Network (PacMAN) monitoring plan.

Abstract

Invasive species pose a major risk to marine biodiversity and ecosystem health (Bax et al. 2003, Molnar et al. 2008, Costello et al. 2010), and consequently to ecosystem services that are crucial for livelihoods and human well-being. The increasing movement of goods and services across the globe has enhanced the risk of invasive species throughout the world. Fiji is considered a hub of marine traffic among the Pacific Islands, and therefore is an entry point for high-risk invasive species in the area. Currently, the information on local marine biodiversity, and consequently marine invasive alien species (MIAS) is lacking in the Pacific Islands at large. While the Government of Fiji is active in biodiversity monitoring through the Biosecurity Authority of Fiji (BAF), the Fiji Invasive Alien Species Task Force (FIST), the National Invasive Species Framework and Action Plan (NISFSAP) currently under construction through Fiji’s national invasive species project and the Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) program, many of these initiatives are focused on terrestrial biosecurity and lack a robust approach to address the problem at the marine ecosystem level. Consultation with local stakeholders revealed that increased efforts on marine biodiversity conservation should go hand in hand with increased efforts in MIAS management. National priorities for Fiji’s National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan (NBSAP) addresses this link through its Focus Area 4: Management of Invasive Alien Species (IAS). Concerted efforts in this focus area are geared towards the establishment of an Invasive Species Database, the strengthening of the FIST, increased coordination between local and regional networks on IAS management and a renewed surge in national effort to raise the standard of biosecurity surveillance programs such as those found under the Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) program for BAF. The successful development of these national programs, requires enhanced collection of information on marine biodiversity, knowledge on the existing presence of marine invasive species, and the development of routine monitoring to enable rapid responses to known highly invasive species. Existing frameworks at BAF utilized for terrestrial IAS management will be used to guide the development of future management plans for MIAS. BAF is the lead implementing agency for a GEF 6 project “Building Capacities to Address Invasive Alien Species to Enhance the Chances of Long-term Survival of Terrestrial Endemic and Threatened Species on Taveuni Island and Surrounding Islets” aimed at establishing and enhancing national and local capacity to prevent, detect, control and manage invasive alien species. A key planned outcome of the project is development of a clearinghouse mechanism to collate and make accessible IAS information to all stakeholders. The PaCMAN project will partner with the GEF6 IAS project in this regard so that MIAS data generated from the PacMAN project is curated, verified, uploaded and available through this clearing house. Through PacMAN outcomes, the Ministry of Environment has indicated to initiate a management policy on marine invasive species as a by-product of the management recommendations from the project. Technical capacity in molecular methods exists in pockets in Fiji, however further capacity development is necessary to ensure the effectiveness of eDNA in routine marine conservation efforts. BAF has been identified as a partner through local stakeholder consultations that will assist with technological gaps with its DNA analysis capacity through a recently acquired qPCR unit. Considering marine invasive species, Fiji is also one of the Lead Partnering Countries (LPCs) in the GEF/UNDP-IMO project “Building Partnerships to Assist Developing Countries Minimize the Impacts from Aquatic Biofouling (GloFouling Partnerships (https://www.glofouling.imo.org), indicating its willingness to establish a national strategic action plan to manage biofouling. The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) which is the regional coordinator for the Glofouling partnerships is committed to develop a MIAS toolkit as well as conduct capacity building training for local MIAS managers as well as key technical working groups such as the FIST. SPREP has expressed a need for data on marine biodiversity, as well as monitoring guidelines that will be developed through PacMAN. The interest and involvement of SPREP shows that there is a need for MIAS monitoring also in other regional countries in the Pacific. Further linkages can be observed from SPREP’s increased efforts in building capacity on IAS management in the region through its GEF 6 project and its Managing Invasive Species for Climate Change Adaptation in the Pacific (MISCCAP).