12 June 2017 • 7:11pm
The UK is among the worst
countries in the world for invasions of alien animals and plants, a new global
study has found.
Grey
squirrels, Indian rose-ringed parakeets, and an abundance Himalayan
balsam weeds puts Britain in the top 10 per cent of
alien-harbouring areas.
Experts have called for tougher
import controls amid fears that new invaders could ruin domestic ecosystems.
We need to be much better at
trying to prevent the introduction of species that can be harmful in the first
placeDr Wayne Dawson, Durham University
The survey by Durham University
identified islands and mainland coastal countries to be the most likely areas
to be colonised by foreign species.
The top three locations with the
highest numbers of established alien species were the Hawaiian Islands, New
Zealand's North Island, and the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia.
However, Britain also appears
near the top of the list, due in part to the country’s historically high volume
of trade.
"We need to be much better
at trying to prevent the introduction of species that can be harmful in the
first place," said Dr Wayne Dawson of Durham University, UK.
"Prevention is better than cure with invasive species."
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