ALIEM VIGIL: a cross-border surveillance, prevention and management framework against invasive alien species in Mediterranean transit hubs

Résumé fourni par la source

The Mediterranean basin is a global biodiversity hotspot where intense maritime traffic, tourism and commercial exchanges concentrate through seaports, airports and logistics platforms that act as preferential entry pathways for invasive alien species (IAS). Building on the achievements of the Interreg Italy-France Maritime projects ALIEM (2017-2020) and ALIEM APOSTROPHE (2020-2023), the ALIEM VIGIL project (2024-2027, 36 months) strengthens the coordinated prevention, early detection and management of both terrestrial and marine IAS across the French-Italian transboundary cooperation area (Corsica, Sardinia, Liguria, Tuscany and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur). ALIEM VIGIL is structured around three complementary components. Work package 1 consolidates a cross-border surveillance network by upgrading the ALIEM NETWORK 3.0 collaborative platform, its mobile application and the GAIA mapping database, and by extending the characterisation and risk assessment of transit entry points. Work package 2 delivers joint training and awareness actions targeting port and airport authorities, transport operators, site managers and the general public, with harmonised pedagogical tools and a joint cross-border training pilot. Work package 3 designs and field-tests innovative protocols for the control and neutralisation of priority IAS, structured around an Identification–Development–Neutralisation (I-D-N) operational approach and consolidated into a single Transboundary Control Protocol. Led by the Corsica Environment Agency (OEC), the consortium gathers eight partners from France and Italy combining regional environmental authorities, universities, a national botanical conservatory and a natural history museum. Key deliverables include a shared platform, a Transboundary Management Plan, local management plans, harmonised identification and intervention protocols, and a transferable I-D-N approach. Through this integrative, networked and action-oriented approach, ALIEM VIGIL contributes directly to the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, the EU IAS Regulation 1143/2014, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (Target 6) and the 2015 transboundary cooperation agreement for the study and management of invasive species in the Mediterranean.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.