Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
management projects, and the contact details of experts who can help. All of this
information is either supplied by or reviewed by expert contributors from around
the world.
A related project is the development of a Global Register of Invasive Species. h e
development of a GISIN was proposed at the sixth meeting of the Conference of
the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is currently coordinated
by an interim steering committee. GISIN will provide a platform through which
IAS information from participating databases can be accessed (see
http://www.
gisinetwork.org/
for more information).
A lack of legal provisions and/or mandate to deal with IAS can be a signifi cant
impediment to conservation managers. In order to be effective, IAS management
must be able to cut across political boundaries, and the addressing of IAS and the
threats that they pose to the environment must happen at international (global
and regional) levels as well as at national and local levels. A mosaic of binding and
non-binding international instruments addresses IAS and can be used to underpin
practical management. The remaining challenges include: increasing cooperative
action and approaches at regional level; gaining greater acceptance of the applica-
tion of precaution in the multilateral trading system; and fi nancing and develop-
ing suffi cient capacity at national level, in all countries worldwide, to implement
effective IAS management.
