Living Labs for the eradication and/or management of invasive alien species

Expected Outcome: Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes: the capacities and integrated governance of researchers, decision-makers, practitioners, local communities and other stakeholders to effectively collaborate to prevent, eradicate or manage invasive alien species (IAS) are enhanced; native ecosystems are better protected, leading to improved resilience and continuous provision of ecosystem services including for climate mitigation and adaptation. Scope: Invasive alien species are one of the five main direct drivers of biodiversity loss. Besides inflicting major damage to nature and the economy, many invasive alien species also facilitate the outbreak and spread of infectious diseases, posing a threat to humans and native wildlife. The rate of new introductions of invasive alien species has increased in recent years. Without effective control measures, risks to our nature and health will continue to rise. Climate change and land-use changes facilitate the spread and establishment of many alien species. Proposals are expected to support the prevention, eradication and/or management of invasive alien species by stakeholders, including adaptive management approaches. This topic is related to target 12 the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030 (50% reduction in the number of Red List species threatened by invasive alien species) and to target 6 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: reduce the introduction of Invasive Alien Species by 50% by 2030 and minimize their impact. Proposals should support the implementation of the EU Nature Restoration Regulation, the EU regulation on invasive alien species and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Proposals should seek to address some knowledge gaps identified by the IPBES assessment on invasive alien species (2023) [1] . All ecosystem types (terrestrial, fresh and/or marine waters) may be addressed. Living labs can empower the green transition by co-creating solutions and involving actors in real life settings at territorial level to achieve large-scale impact. Successful proposals should: set up at least three living labs, composed each of 10 to 20 experimental sites, following the three main principles: (a) co-creation with a large set of stakeholders, (b) carried out in real-life settings and (c) involving the end-users. Transboundary living labs are encouraged and living labs are expected to be located in at least three different EU Member States and/or Associated Countries; establish a detailed work plan of the activities to be undertaken in a transdisciplinary way, ensuring the co-design, co-development, and co-implementation of locally adapted innovative solutions. Where appropriate, activities should advance knowledge on invasive alien species to support the development of solutions; conduct participatory and transdisciplinary research and innovation in living labs with the objectives of: building on existing methods (including ensuring the integration of existing solutions) or developing new ones for detecting and monitoring invasive alien species, such as the use of citizen science, eDNA, remote sensing and machine learning algorithms, and test them at scale. Proposals could build on pilots developed by the European partnership Biodiversa+; designing and testing innovative eradication and management strategies and methods which may include, for instance, physical removal and the use of biological control or chemical control. Innovative tools such as bio-engineering might be explored in conjunction with more traditional methods. Range shifts induced by climate change should be considered; monitor and carry out an assessment of the innovative strategies, methods and tools and their effectiveness. Measures to ensure the prevention of re-invasion should be considered as well, to secure the continued effectiveness of the proposed solutions; disseminate the newly developed solutions, to facilitate their uptake by prac…