Harmful Invasive Species: Legal Responses

Abstract:     
Harmful non-indigenous or "invasive" species have been widely noted as a critical environmental problem at many ecological and political scales. At the global level, invasive species have been recognized as one of the primary agents among the top five engines of global change. Despite the increasing public recognition of the problem of harmful non-indigenous species, actual changes to national laws have been quite limited. Only one country - New Zealand - has even tried to implement a comprehensive policy with regard to non-indigenous species.

This volume describes the law and policy regarding harmful non-indigenous species in six countries - New Zealand, Germany, South Africa, Argentina, Poland, and the United States. The volume also addresses three international and crosscutting dimensions of harmful non-indigenous species policy: quarantine systems, trade issues, and the special and highly controversial concerns raised by genetically modified organisms.

Together, these papers reveal a legal and policy landscape that is dramatically different from the proposals presented in policy instruments, government reports, and scholarly articles. Generalized calls for improved legal and institutional frameworks for harmful non-indigenous species seem to have ignored the practical, historical, economic, and psychological barriers to effective law and policy in this area.

Keywords: invasive species, non-indigenous species, environment, environmental policy, alien species, comparative law

Accepted Paper Series