LIFE project: Mitigating the threat of invasive alien plants in the EU through pest risk analysis to support the EU Regulation 1143/2014
In May 2016, an expert working group was convened to risk assess two aquatic plant species within the framework of the LIFE project. Both Pistia stratiotes (Araceae: EPPO List of Invasive Alien Plants) and Salvinia molesta (Salviniaceae: EPPO List of Invasive Alien Plants) were risk assessed by 10 experts from 7 different countries, including South Africa and the USA where the species pose significant problems. The PRAs will now undergo a full peer review before they are submitted to the European Commission. Two additional expert working groups are planned for 2016, where the first will consider two more aquatic species, namely Gymnocoronis spilanthoides (Asteraceae) and Hygrophila polysperma (Acanthaceae), followed shortly by an expert working group on Cardiospermum grandiflorum (Sapindaceae) and Cinnamomum camphora (Lauraceae).
Sources
EPPO Secretariat (2016-05)