Events, meetings and conferences related to IAS

EEA/EIONET  Balkan Meeting on Networking Activities on IAS
17-18 October 2011 in Sofia, Bulgaria

• Program
• Participant list
• NOBANIS presentation

The EEA/EIONET BALKAN MEETING ON NETWORKING ACTIVITIES ON IAS was held based on recommendations from a previous workshop in Zagreb 28-29 October 2010: Workshop on Invasive Alien Species in West Balkan Countries. At this workshop the participants produced a report identifying IAS as a biodiversity problem at regional level and confirming the necessity to tackle IAS by implementing global strategies and principles through regional cooperation. The second Workshop on Invasive Alien Plants in Mediterranean Type Regions of the World which was held in Trabzon, Turkey on 02-06 August 2010 reported the need for regional Networks in South and East Europe.

The workshop in Sofia was organized by European Environment Agency (EEA) in cooperation with the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IBER-BAS) and University of Forestry in Sofia. The patron of the meeting was the Ministry of Environment and Water of Bulgaria.

The goal of the EEA/EIONET BALKAN MEETING ON NETWORKING ACTIVITIES ON IAS was to initiate the development of South and East European Network on Invasive Alien Species. The workshop pursued the following key objectives:

- review progresses on IAS after Zagreb meeting
- share results of initiatives to run up the review and/or checklist of IAS in the WB region
- discuss possible networking activities on IAS.
- initiate the development of South and East European Network on IAS. Furthermore, organizational chart for network, data flow, system for beginning and future expectations was discussed.

The workshop resulted in the initiation of a new European network called East and South European Network on Invasive Alien Species (ESENIAS), which will be hosted by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Water, Bulgaria. Ms Teodora Trichkova from IBER-BAS, Bulgaria and Ms Milica Rat from University of Novi Sad, Serbia were elected as co-chairs of the network.