The invasion of foreign species

• Source: Global Times
• [02:30 November 04 2009]
• Comments

It is a fact that harmful alien species already cost China direct economic losses of at least 50 billion yuan ($7.3 billion) every year.

Similarly, species originating from Asia are exported to Europe and the US, causing possible danger to local ecosystems in those areas as well.

But countries with large numbers of immigrants, such as the US and Australia, are better prepared to guard themselves against invasive species through detailed laws and regulations.

The public in those countries is also well informed about foreign species, their impact and control and management measures. Students of a middle school in California, for example, have been clearing weeds from a local recreational area for over a decade, part of the effort to remove foreign plant species and return the area to native ecological conditions.

A response system and public awareness are just starting in China. So far, it is a war without smoke, but it deserves the attention of every one.