Tackling invasive alien species in Europe II: threats and opportunities until 2020

2nd Freshwater Invasives - Networking for Strategy II (FINS-II) Conference -- JUL 11-14, 2016 -- Zagreb, CROATIA Skora, Michal Edward/0000-0002-9121-1318; Groom, Quentin/0000-0002-0596-5376; Lukas, Juliane/0000-0003-3336-847X; Skora, Michal/0000-0002-9121-1318; Piria, Marina/0000-0001-6324-9282; Smith, Emily/0000-0003-2767-9933; Simonovic, Predrag/0000-0002-4819-4962; Pastorino, Paolo/0000-0002-0585-1168; Koutsikos, Nicholas/0000-0003-0680-4504; Vilizzi, Lorenzo/0000-0001-8103-885X; Dobrzycka-Krahel, Aldona/0000-0002-4252-895X; Tarkan, Ali Serhan/0000-0001-8628-0514 WOS: 000412582000002 Invasive alien species (IAS) are a significant and growing problem worldwide. In Europe, some aspects of IAS have been addressed through existing legal instruments, but these are far from sufficient to tackle the problem comprehensively. The FINS II Conference considered the relevance of Top 20 IAS issues (Top 10 threats and opportunities) for Europe determined at the 1st Freshwater Invasiveness-Networking for Strategy (FINS I) conference held in Ireland in 2013. Using a similar format of sequential group voting, threats from FINS I (lack of funding, of awareness and education; poor communication) and several new threats (lack of lead agencies, of standardized management and of common approach; insufficient monitoring and management on private property) were identified by 80 academics, applied scientists, policy makers and stakeholders from 14 EU and three non-EU countries (including 10 invited speakers) during four workshop break-out sessions (legislation remit in both EU/non-EU countries; best management and biosecurity practice for control; data management and early warning; pathways of introductions and citizen science). Identified opportunities include improved cooperation and communication, education and leadership to enhance public awareness and stakeholder participation, systems establishment for early detection, rapid response, monitoring and management of IAS using standardised methods of data collection, storage and usage. The sets of threats and opportunities identified underline the importance of international cooperation on IAS issues in communication, education and funding as priorities, as well as in standardization of legislation, control methods and best practise of research. Univ Zagreb, European Inland Fisheries & Aquaculture Advisory Commiss University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture; European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Commission (EIFAAC); Croatian Biological Society; Ministry of Science; Education and Sport of Republic of Croatia; Croatian Association of Sports Fishing Societies; Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts; Nature Conservation Committee [NEC04932]; Natural Environment Research CouncilNERC Natural Environment Research Council [NEC04932]; UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural AffairsDepartment for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA); Irish EPA project "Prevention, control and eradication of invasive alien species" [2015-NC-MS-4]; Topfishing; Zagreb ZOO; Zagreb; Karlovac towns We wish to thank the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Agriculture, the European Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture Commission (EIFAAC), the Croatian Biological Society, the Ministry of Science, the Education and Sport of Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Association of Sports Fishing Societies, the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Topfishing, Zagreb ZOO, Zagreb and Karlovac towns for sponsoring the FINS II conference. We also thank the large number of people who assisted but are not co-authors on the manuscript including M. Pofuk, T. Stuhne, R. Jasarevic, K. Culag, I. Cuze, M. Cvitanic and S. Hudina for their selfless assistance during the conference. H.E. Roy received support from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee and the Natural Environment Research Council (via National Capability funding to the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, project NEC04932), and G.H. Copp was supported by the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. COST Action TD1209 ALIEN Challenge is acknowledged. F. Lucy, J. Caffrey, J. Dick, E. Davis and N. Coughlan were supported by the Irish EPA project "Prevention, control and eradication of invasive alien species" (2015-NC-MS-4).