"Alien" wildlife in Europe wreak $16 billion damage a year: study

February 20, 2013|Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle | Reuters

OSLO (Reuters) - Animals and plants brought to Europe from other parts of the world are a bigger-than-expected threat to health and the environment costing at least $16 billion a year, a study said on Thursday.



Introduced species that suddenly thrive in a new home in Europe, including parakeets from Africa or water hyacinth from the Amazon, were estimated to cost Europe at least 12 billion euros ($16.03 billion) a year, according to the 118-page study.





Among invaders, the tiger mosquito, native to Asia, transmitted dengue fever and was linked to an outbreak of the chikungunya virus in Italy in 2007. And climate change meant the mosquitoes were likely to spread.

Ragweed, originally from North America and spreading north in Europe in a warming climate, added to health problems since 10 to 20 percent of patients who suffered from pollen allergy suffer from ragweed.


Invasive species have been around for a long time -- Pliny the Elder wrote in 77 AD that Roman troops were deployed to try to rid the Balearic islands in the Mediterranean of invasive rabbits brought from the mainland.


Many alien invasive species were introduced deliberately and then escaped or spread rapidly - such as farmed mink from North America or ornamental rhododendron plants from Asia.


Invaders are hard to beat, but spending is often worthwhile.

Britain eradicated the coypu, a large rodent from South America whose burrows can undermine riverbanks, in a 5-million- euro campaign. In Italy, a bigger coypu infestation causes damage of up to 12 million euros a year.

The study also urged better assessment of fast-growing species before they are used as biofuel crops - such as the Japanese knotweed that can grow 30 cms (1 ft) a day and threatens slower-growing plants by blocking sunlight. ($1 = 0.7487 euros) ($1 = 0.6475 British pounds)

(Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Michael Roddy)