Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
invasive-species management efforts, including the successful and failed eradica-
tion attempts discussed in Chapter 4. These topics are sufficiently important that
they deserve some detailed consideration. Generally speaking, there has been
slowly growing appreciation of the ecological and economic seriousness of alien
invasions in recent years; however, with few exceptions, governmental engagement
with the problem in most jurisdictions has remained of limited scope and effective-
ness. The importance of political will and organizational structures in determining
a country's invasion fate is perhaps most easily illustrated by contrasting the different
approaches taken by two countries possessing the fiscal and intellectual resources
required to respond to the challenge competently.
New Zealand has had legislation since 1993 that explicitly places responsibility
for preventing and responding to new alien-species invasions in a single govern-
mental authority, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF). Prevention pol-
icy in New Zealand includes comprehensive lists of prohibited species and rigorous
inspection of arriving cargo and passengers, with inspection priorities based on risk
assessment of cargo type and origin. Animals proposed for importation must have
an explicit import policy developed by MAF; otherwise, entry is prohibited.
Reptiles and amphibians in the pet trade are strictly limited, with most species pro-
hibited from import. When species successfully circumvent preventive detection,
new incursions are assessed for hazard and are liable to rapid eradication by MAF.
Should eradication fail, control of established pests may then be undertaken by
MAF for agricultural pests, by Department of Conservation on their conservation
lands (ca. one-third of the country), or by regional councils in accordance with
regional pest-management strategies developed with public input. Declaration of a
species as a pest often carries the requirement that landowners suppress the species
on their lands. Responsibility for preventing alien incursions and eradicating incipi-
ent populations is clearly assigned to a single ministry in New Zealand, ultimately
making the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry accountable for overall border
protection. The only political appointee in this chain of command is the Minister of
Agriculture and Forestry, duly elected to Parliament and appointed as a cabinet
member by the prime minister. All other relevant officials responsible for biosecu-
rity are permanent professionals of the civil service. Partly as a result of this uni-
fied, comprehensive biosecurity system, New Zealand has not had a new species of
reptile or amphibian become naturalized since the 1960s.
The United States provides a striking contrast. As mentioned in the last chapter,
importation of reptiles and amphibians is virtually unregulated, except that brown
treesnakes and three species of African tortoises are prohibited from unlicensed
import, which may be allowed for scientific or educational use. Ownership of
particular species may also be prohibited by some states. Inspection of arriving
cargo is directed toward finding agricultural pests (United States Department of
Agriculture, or USDA) or smuggled goods (Customs Department). The United
States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) inspects declared shipments of imported
animals to verify import declarations are accurate, and it collates importation infor-
mation to meet CITES requirements. Smuggled animals discovered by Customs are
also referred to USFWS for prosecution, largely to enforce CITES requirements.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search