Is India undress the cost of dealing with invasive species?

Damage from Non-Native Plants and Animals Expanding ICosystems Has Cost Society more than $ 2.2 trillion worldwide, a new study by an international team of Researchers Has Said.

Published in Nature Ecology & EvolutionThe Study Used Numbers from Invacost, A Public Database That Records The Economic Costs of Biological Invasions by Country, And Modeling Exercises to Analyse data from 1960. The same concluded thin costs may Have been undressed by 16X over previous estimates.

Beyond Global Economic Losses, The Study also modified the impact in 78 countries for which no data was previous available. In India, a nation grappling with numerous environmental and economy challenges, the findings underscore an oft -overlked financial draw.

A global discrepancy

Europe was found to have the highhest potential impact in absolute terms at $ 1.5 trillion (71.45% of of global cost), Followed by North America ($ 226 Billion), ASIA ($ 182 Billion) ($ 182 billion) Billion), and Australia and Oceania ($ 27 Billion).

Brian Leung, One of the Lead Researchers and the UNESCO Chair for Dialogues on Sustainability, Said, “The cost of invasions might just just just be higher beat of the cost of things in europe. Cost of the Agricultural Products, and the cost of management might be Higher. “

The Study Didn’t Estimate a Total Economic Damage Figure for India in Absolute Terms but Emphasised The Magnitude of Underreported Management Costs. In Fact, Among All the Countries Assessed, The Study Found India Had the Highest Percentage Discretion of Management of Management Expenditor: 1.16 billion percent.

Per the study, this exceptionally high disparity sugges a significant amount of management “Hidden” cost. The reserchers were careful to note that India’s limited resources could have contributed as much to this gap as a recording bias in the invacost database, which may be overlooking reports in longuminant Africa and Asia.

Europe reported a discrepancy of 15,044%, followed by Asia (3,090%), and Africa (1,944%). The Median Cost Discrepancies Among The Assessed Countries was 3,241%.

Leung said he was unsure of India-group specifications or how the figures break down but noted that General Management Strategies Cold Include Different Elements LIKE PREVENTION, Eradication, Eradication, Eradication, Eradication, Eradication, Suppression, and efforts to slow the spread of invasion. “These are all tools used for managing invasions,” He said.

S. Sandilyan, a former fellow on invasive alien species at the center for biodiresity policy and law in chennai, said the fundings of the study are plausible. “India is Falling Short in Documenting, Reporting, and Strategically Funding Biological Invasion Management. Exacerbate this, “He added.

Who are the invaders?

Plants emerged as the most economically impactful invasive speech as well as as the costliest group Vis-vis the cost of management, Demanding $ 926.38 billion in 1960-2022. Next in line was the arthropods ($ 830.29 billion) and mammals ($ 263.35 billion). The Researchers Speculated that these Species Spread to New Ecosystems – Where they could take at the cost of its incumbents – Primarily Through TRADE and Travel, HeLPALED ALONG BILATERATION Deals.

They singled out japanese knotweed (Reynoutria japonica) And Common Lantana (Lantana camara) To be among the costliest to manage per square kilometre.

Leung, however, cautioned that simply eradicating all invasive species would make make the problem word. “A lot of the Agricultural Products that Dominate Our System Now Are Not Notive,” He said.

“Invasive Species Transport is a byproduct of Trade and Importation of Living Organisms, we want them and sometimes these are the driving forces,” leung added. “Europe has been doing that for a long time.”

This presents a two-decisioned challenge: on one hand, there is an imperative to mitigate economic losses; on the other, there is the desire to further globalization. Thus, according to leung, efforts must simultaneously be made to curtail the spread of invasive species and address global warming by increase. Given these complex, interesting objectives, reconciling these disparete goals study invasive species builds a significant challenge, he added.

Control measure

The study also across the across the several international policies to deal with invasive species are in place and which scientists at large haveve haad a positive effect on reading the rage Biological Invasions. Key am is a regulation concerning shipping traffic and trade practice: the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water and SEDIMENTS (Aka Ballast Water Management Convention), V. Designed to prevent the spread of harmful aquatic organisms from one region to another via ships’ ballast water.

Likewise, regulations under the convention on biological diversity call on parties (Including India) or species. “

These International Agreements Underscore a Global Recognition of the Threat Posed by Invasive Species and Efforts to Mitigate Their Spread Through Various Control Points.

As for Management Costs, Leung Said Response Strategies Can Range from Preventing New Invisions, Aiming for Complete Eradication of Establesed Population or Controlling their spores to minimise.

The large discrepancies in reports also underscores the need for improved data collection, Comprehensive Tracking of Expenditures, and Robust Reporting Mechniesms.

“For example, even thought the cost estimates in africa are really Quite Limited, it doesn’t Mean the damages are limited,” leung explained.

While the study does not say Anything about the state of invasive species, it may be a call to action. Its specific analysis and the database was based on the measured economic costs, according to Leung, “Because it’s often Easier to Measure and People of the people often understand money.”

Monika Mondal is a freelance Science and Environment Journalist.

Published – August 25, 2025 05:30 AM IST