Table 1_Early warning early action systems for invasive alien species affecting forests in Europe and Central Asia: an overview.docx

Early Warning Early Action (EWEA) is a system and set of protocols developed and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as part of its disaster risk reduction and resilience work. EWEA provides proactive approaches to predictable shocks by investing in monitoring and disaster management for different humanitarian and ecological crises around the world. As the rate of spread of invasive alien species (IAS) increases and disrupts the vital ecological functions in forests around the world, vigorous phytosanitary protocols are needed to prevent and mitigate their dispersal and adverse impacts. The anticipatory approach of EWEA systems is well-suited for mitigating the detrimental effects of IAS, as preventive measures have proven to be the most effective. In this review of EWEA for forest IAS, papers have been categorized into six themes: a review of EWEA systems, sentinel tree species in plantations and gardens, trapping and detection methods and their application, pathways of IAS introduction, citizen science for early detection, and modeling of EWEA systems. Additionally, a survey was conducted among researchers and forest managers to determine their perspectives in relation to EWEA systems. A total of 96 respondents (58 from Europe and 38 from Central Asia) provided information that complements the review findings. The results indicate that EWEA systems are generally recognized as an optimal approach to contain threats posed by IAS in various types of forest ecosystems. The complex and dynamic pathways of IAS require a multi-faceted management approach that draws on each of these themes. Continual monitoring at local and macro-regional levels must be coupled with harmonized and consolidated phytosanitary measures at the regional and global levels in order to build EWEA systems that would effectively tackle the spread of IAS.