After habitat destruction, invasive alien species are the greatest threat to biodiversity worldwide.
Through Notice Nature the NPWS, along with Invasive Species Ireland, aims to raise awareness of this issue and to get everyone involved in combating Ireland’s invasive alien species.
What are invasive alien species?
Invasive alien species are non-native species that, as a result of human activity, have been transported further than they could naturally travel and have subsequently disrupted their newly colonised environments.
Alien species can belong to any groups of organisms including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, micro-organisms and invertebrates.
Invasive alien species negatively impact Irish biodiversity through competition, herbivory, predation, habitat alteration, introduction of parasites or pathogens, and dilution of gene pools.
Further information can also be found on the Inland Fisheries website.
The European Union has created an app to encourage people to record IAS on their mobile devices. The app is available for Android and Apple IOS devices from the respective app stores.