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Workshop
on alien invasive species and sustainable development
This workshop took place in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do
Sul, and in Ponta Grossa, Paraná, in August 2002. It was
organized by the consortium Horus Institute / IDEAAS
- Institute for the Development of Natural Energy and
Sustainability.
Workshop objectives
The workshops were promoted to expose the global context
of biological invasions to decision makers in governmental
agencies, forest enterprises, research institutions and
the general public. Some examples of invasions in the world
are "dengue fever", a disease transmited by an Egyptian
insect, foot-and-mouth disease, mad cow disease, the virus
ebola; among animals, the wild boar causes damage to rice
crops in Rio Grande do Sul, feral buffalo at the Guapore
Biological Reserve, in Rondonia, and feral dogs at the Brasilia
National Park.
Among plants, species in the genus Pinus and Eucalyptus,
widely used in forestry all over the world, Ulex europaeus
(gorse), Hovenia dulcis (japanese cherry tree), from
China and Japan, Tecoma stans, from Mexico, Eragrostis
plana (weeping grass), from South Africa, Brachiaria
and Mellinis minutiflora, also from Africa. These
are all common problems in Brazil, but no control work is
under way.
Many other species are present among us. We need to learn
to recognize them as problems, then prevent, manage or eradicate
them to restrict envitonmental, economical, political and
social impacts.
Acknowledgements
- United
States Embassy
- Ashoka
Social Entrepreneurs
- Global
Invasive Species Programme (GISP)
- Washington
State University (Professor Richard Mack)
- The
Nature Conservancy (Ann Bartuska, Executive Director
of the InvasiveSpecies Initiative)
- Ministry
for the Environment of Brazil (Biologist João
Arthur Soccal Seyffarth,
- National
Strategy for Biodiversity)
- Ponta
Grossa City Hall (Mayor Péricles Holleben de Mello)
- Municipal
Secretary for Tourism and the Environment (Jorge Demiate)
- Municipal
Council of Ponta Grossa (Councilman and Government Leader
José Luiz Teixeira and his Parlamentary Assistant,
Journalist Aida Franco).
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