Stakeholders’ views on the global guidelines for the sustainable use of non-native trees

A large number of non-native trees (NNTs) have been introduced globally and widely planted, contributing significantly to the world's economy. Although some of these species present a limited risk of spreading beyond their planting sites, a growing number of NNTs are spreading and becoming invasive, leading to diverse negative impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem functions, and human well-being. To help minimize the negative impacts and maximize the economic benefits of NNTs, Brundu et al. developed eight guidelines for the sustainable use of NNTs globally—the Global Guidelines for the Use of NNTs (GG-NNTs). We used an online survey to assess perceptions of key stakeholders towards NNTs and explore their knowledge of and compliance with the GG-NNTs. This dataset includes the results of such a questionnaire.

Methods
The questionnaire was comprised of three sections: (1) a section aimed at assessing how respondents perceive NNTs, (2) a section designed to assess whether stakeholders comply with the GG-NNTs, and (3) a section aimed at collecting sociodemographic information about the respondents and their institution. The questionnaire was distributed amon 753 identified relevant stakeholder institutions, divided all identified into seven groups according to the sectors they can be associated with: (1) aesthetics, (2) environmental improvement, (3) research in forestry, (4) forest industry and forest production, (5) research in nature conservation, (6) nature conservation, and (7) other, those that did not fit any of the other categories (e.g. environmental consultancies and governmental agencies).