Brussels, 14/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - EASIN is the European Alien Species Information Network, which was launched on Friday 14 September by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) to pool all available information on a potential plague which can occur if alien species become invasive, destroy the local flora and fauna, and spread disease. This European information network is a tool to help combined efforts to counter the threat in the European Union that the invasive species - these alien species that become established in a new environment - constitute for biodiversity and human health, with a huge economic impact calculated at some €12 billion per year.
As it indexes information from more than 40 online databases, EASIN will facilitate the mapping and classification of alien species. EASIN contains an inventory of more than 16,000 alien species currently reported all over Europe. It was set up by compiling, checking and standardising all information available online and in scientific literature, and it will be updated regularly.
“Invasive alien species are causing growing problems for our natural resources, people's health and the economy. This threat arises from non-native species whose numbers are growing rapidly in an increasingly interconnected world. The EASIN network will help people in Europe get better information about where non-native species are, and how common they are - and that will support better policy making on this difficult issue”, said Janez Potocnik, European Commissioner for the Environment.
EASIN users will be able to view and map the distribution of alien species in Europe and select them according to criteria (including environment in which they are found, biological classification, and pathways of their introduction).
The European Commission is currently working on proposals to combat invasive alien species, which constitutes one of the objectives of the EU 2020 Biodiversity Strategy. (AN/transl.fl)