Introduction

Article 8h of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) calls upon the Parties to "prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species. The problem of invasive species, though not sufficiently quantified, is increasingly being recognised by scientists for their impact on biodiversity. There is, however,limited awareness of the problem in general and lack of capacity to address the issue in Asia, including Pakistan.

A Global Initiative on Invasive Species was started by IUCN-The World Conservation Union in 1999, with the aim of enhancing knowledge base and capacities for addressing the issue of Alien Invasive Species (AIS) in selected countries of the region vis-à-vis Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. The GI on AIS is being co-ordinated by the IUCN Asia Regional Biodiversity Programme (RBP) based in Sri Lanka. This report covers the IUCN Pakistan part for the GI on invasive species. The report is based on collaborative efforts of IUCN Pakistan Programme, CABI Bioscience Regional Office, Rawalpindi, and Botany Department, University of Karachi, Pakistan. To begin  with it was decided to conduct the study on invasive plants in the country.

A workshop was organized at National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Islamabad where Weed Scientists, Agronomists, Entomologists and Plant Taxonomists (Annex 1) were invited from all over the country to discuss the issues regarding alien invasive species and prepare a blacklist of important invasive plants. Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development, Islamabad, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock and Capital Development Authority were contacted to assess the state of knowledge and practices (if any) on the issue of invasive species and to understand control mechanisms (legislation and policies) in the country.

This report was developed on the basis of workshop findings, individual contacts with scientists, planners and policy makers, and secondary information including published and unpublished literature on the subject in the country.

The report is comprised of several sections. Following the introduction, the issue of invasive species has been further elaborated in Section 2 & 3 with the aim to understand the issue, and list factors that promote invasiveness, including the magnitude of the issue in different parts of the World. Section 4 describes impacts of invasive species covering both physical as well as economic impacts. Examples of some worst cases are also provided in Section 5. Sections 6 and 7 provide control prevention mechanisms, and the various International efforts that are currently in place to address the AIS problem. The rest of the sections specifically describe and elaborate the AIS issue in Pakistan, including efforts being undertaken, and current legislation/prevention measures for AIS in the country. On the basis of these discussions, the last section provides recommendations for future course of action. In addition, a preliminary list of recognized invasive species in Pakistan is provided in  the appendix.