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New global initiative launched at IUCN Congress to tackle world’s most destructive ecological threat

A new international effort, the Global Environmental Biosecurity Initiative, has been officially launched at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Abu Dhabi this week to strengthen global defences against invasive species, which are recognised as the single greatest driver of biodiversity loss on islands and a major contributor to global extinctions.

Led by international environmental NGO 4nature, run by our former CEO Andrew Cox, the initiative aims to overhaul and expand international biosecurity arrangements to specifically protect nature and critical ecosystem services. 

The move is a direct response to the urgent need for action outlined in the 2023 IPBES report on invasive alien species and directly supports Target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal 2030 Global Biodiversity Framework.

‘We are facing a crisis where human travel and trade are constantly moving invasive plants, animals, and pathogens around the world, severely disrupting ecosystems and harming native life,’ Global Environmental Biosecurity Initiative lead at 4nature, Andrew Cox said.

‘While we have strong global rules to protect agriculture and human health, we desperately need a comprehensive global shield to protect nature. This initiative will build that shield by securing the systemic changes and resources required to make biosecurity work for biodiversity.’

Invasive Species Council CEO Jack Gough said:

‘Invasive species are a wicked issue that is worsening, yet they often fall between the gaps of international policy.

‘This initiative steps in to provide the critical focus and drive needed to align global efforts, which will ultimately translate to better outcomes for native species protection on the ground.’

The initiative’s focus on the pathways of invasion was highlighted by Piero Genovesi, Chair of the IUCN Invasive Species Specialist Group. 

‘Prevention of new introductions is by far the most effective and less costly way we have for addressing invasions. Pathways – like shipping containers, e-commerce, and global travel – are the superhighways for invasive species. Effective pathway management is the most cost-effective solution we have to stem the tide of new invasions.

‘This new Initiative will play a vital role in identifying where these global pathways are weakest and driving the national and international actions necessary to plug those gaps, saving countless species from extinction.’

Over the next 2 years, the initiative will focus on three key objectives:

  • Identify Gaps: Reviewing current international systems and identifying areas for improvement.
  • Identify Needs: Confirming the necessary information, tools, and resources.
  • Secure Change: Working with sympathetic countries and institutions to implement required changes and secure funding.

4nature will undertake this work in collaboration with the IUCN and engage with global processes under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on the Law of the Sea, the International Plant Protection Convention and relevant trade agreements.

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Our protected areas are being trashed, trampled, choked and polluted by an onslaught of invaders. Invasive species are already the overwhelming driver of our animal extinction rate, and are expected to cause 75 of the next 100 extinctions.

But you can help to turn this around and create a wildlife revival in Australia. 

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A silent crisis is unfolding across Australia. Every year, billions of native animals are hunted and killed by cats and foxes. Fire ants continue to spread and threaten human health. And the deadly strain of bird flu looms on the horizon. Your donation today will be used to put the invasive species threat in the media, make invasive species a government priority, ensure governments take rapid action to protect nature and our remarkable native wildlife from invasives-led extinction, death and destruction.

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    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]


    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]