Secretary Roy Cimatu of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Friday called for convergence to fight invasive alien species in Asia-Pacific region.
He urged experts and researchers to work together and come up with research-based solutions that would reduce the negative impact of invasive alien species to biodiversity and the environment in general.
“I stand firm in promoting convergence of our research and development efforts for a sustainable region-wide management of invasive alien species,” he said.
“Let us continue with our pursuit for research-driven strategies and policies to effectively manage and conserve biodiversity for the good of humankind,” he added.
In a recent international conference on invasive alien species management in Manila, DENR underscored the need for a collective effort to tackle the invasive alien species that has been “invading and destroying nature’s ecological balance.”
“These invasive alien species pose serious environmental concerns and are among the major threats to biodiversity,” Cimatu said.
“They cover a wide gamut of ecosystems from the terrestrial to aquatic environments, irreversibly impacting on biodiversity, agriculture as well as food and water security,” he noted.
Invasive alien species are plants, animals, pathogens and other organisms that are non-native to an ecosystem, and which may cause economic or environmental harm or adversely affect human health.
In agriculture, the invasive alien species broadly applies to any non-indigenous weeds, pest, insects and other disease-causing agents that disrupt crop and livestock, among others.
The conference was organized by the DENR’s Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau and funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs.
