Within Australia, 1783 alien plants have established populations and 350 of these became naturalised between 1980 and 2010. Future invasions are anticipated through emerging illegal trade (facilitated by e-commerce marketplaces) in invasive plant species.
The trading of high-risk invasive species and declared pests via e-commerce platforms is recognised as a significant pathway for the introduction of organisms into new areas, which, in-turn can create major biosecurity risks to human health, food security, agricultural health, and biodiversity loss throughout the world.
A range of innovative solutions are required to effectively manage the biosecurity risks of the e-commerce marketplace in invasive species and this project will develop software and analytical approaches to address this priority, and greatly support the data-collection, surveillance activities, and compliance, as well as the reputation of biosecurity agencies charged with preventing new alien plant incursions.
This project will share the methodological and ultimately end-user platforms pursued by a sister CISS supported project: Understanding and intervening in illegal trade in non-native species.
The long-term benefits of this project will ensure that effective interventions are in place nationally for monitoring key international and domestic online sources of illegal plants and e-commerce trade pathways.
In progress
The project receives funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment