The Minister of the Environment Thorbjørn Berntsen

Opening Speech at the Norway/UNEP Conference on Alien Species

Trondheim 1 July 1996

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a pleasure for me to wish you all welcome to the second Expert Conference on biodiversity in Trondheim. This year's conference is a result of the co-operation with: -- UNEP, and its Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity; -- UNESCO; -- and also the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). I am most pleased with this opportunity to join forces with such competent international organisations.

I am especially pleased to see that so many experts from different parts of the world are gathered here today. It is my hope that gathering you all together will create an atmosphere where you can update each other in an open and transparent way. Access to the latest scientific results, management experiences and policy developments, is important for creating a common ground for future work on biodiversity. I hope that during these days you will advance the knowledge and analysis of the vital problems and linkages between the world of nature and the impacts of man.

The first Expert Conference on Biodiversity was held in 1993. The objectives of that Conference were to:

• mobilise the scientific basis for the follow-up of the Convention on Biological Diversity;
• establish and develop contact and collaboration between scientists and policy-makers;
• to enhance the cross-sectoral and multi-sectoral dialogue on biodiversity research and development; and
• to provide input to UNEP's preparatory work of the Convention.

Two major reasons can be mentioned for choosing "alien species" as the subject for this Conference: Firstly, alien species have been identified as the second largest threat to biological diversity globally after habitat degradation. Secondly, not much attention has yet been given to alien species as a subject. The effect of alien species has been described as "one of the great historical pains in the world's fauna and flora".

Since the first Conference we have experienced a lot of progress in the work of implementing the Convention both nationally and internationally:

The Convention entered into force 29 December 1993 and is now ratified by over 140 states. Our hope is that the Convention soon will become truly universal since the US Government hopefully soon will ratify the Convention. Two Conferences of the Parties have been held since the entry into force of the Convention. The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice has held one meeting in September 1995 in Paris. This Body has a very important role to play in the follow-up work of the Convention.
And last but not the least, the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity has been established permanently in Montreal in May this year. I would like to specially welcome the Executive Secretary, Mr. Calestous Juma, who is here with us.

Another important event in biodiversity was the finalization of the Global Biodiversity Assessment in 1995 by UNEP. The book is an independent scientific analysis and assessment of biological and socio-economic aspects of biodiversity. The assessment will certainly strengthen the national and global base of knowledge on biodiversity. It provides a useful input to the implementation of the Convention, and will, I believe, prove to be most useful also for the scientific body of the Convention.

The Convention is process-oriented, and this year's Trondheim Conference is meant as a contribution and a concrete step to facilitate its implementation. The Convention contains a general obligation to "prevent the introduction of, control or eradicate those alien species which threaten ecosystems, habitats or species". Accordingly, this year's Conference focuses on Alien Species, which is a subject that appears to attain a growing interest internationally. The initiative by the Scientific Committee for Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) to develop a Global Strategy on Alien Species is very much welcomed. Professor Harold Mooney from SCOPE will tell us more about this initiative today.

I must admit that when I first heard that the subject for this conference was alien species, I regarded this as a purely scientific matter. After being introduced to the subject, I am now aware of the fact that alien species may cause environmental damage and economic loss. Let me give some examples: the Global Biodiversity Assessment refers to that about 64 per cent of Australian threatened mammals have been affected by introductions of alien species. Globally almost 20 % of the vertebrates in danger of extinction are threatened in some way by alien species. Introductions may also for instance harm the many services and functions provided by nature. These services include for instance water supply, local climate and erosion control. We should therefore all have an interest in making sure that we have strong and resilient natural systems that can continue to provide us with these services.

Species are introduced into new habitats by humans for a number of reasons and we can identify three major ways by which alien species are introduced: 1) accidental introductions; 2) species imported for specific purposes which then escape; and 3) deliberate introductions. Alien species are part of our every day life and it is difficult to know who they are. A recent study shown that a large proportion of Norwegian species can be said to be introduced species. This seems to be especially true with regard to plants.

Many of the introductions relate to the human interest in moving and providing species that are especially helpful to people. This is particularly true for most of our agricultural organisms. Many of these "alien" species are a crucial source for food and nutrition. For example a staple food in Norway, the potato, has once been imported from South America.

Later today we will also hear a presentation on this topic from Jeffrey McNeely of IUCN, who will tell us about how alien species help feed the global economy. However, using alien species as sources of food does constitute a risk, and we therefore need to ask ourselves whether the benefits of using an alien species can be expected to be larger than the costs and the long-term impacts.

Alien species can have - and regretfully in many cases have - a devastating effect on crops. There are numerous cases where insects and weeds have been introduced from outside a region, and consequently wiped out entire fields of various crops. Alien species may also be a severe threat to human as well as animal health.

In Norway, some of the most debated problems relating to alien species concern salmon. Salmon is a species that is economically and culturally important in Norway in terms of fishing, recreation and tourism. One of the greatest threats to our wild salmon is farmed salmon that escape from fish farms and who may cause genetic erosion in the wild salmon stocks. Several measures are being introduced to reduce these problems in order to secure our wild salmon stocks. Another big problem related to salmon is a salmon parasite, which has wiped out entire populations of salmon in some rivers. To repair the damage caused by this alien species is certainly not cheap, neither environmentally nor economically. This is also the case in many other examples of alien species around the world. Our ability to prevent the introduction of and manage alien specie rests upon the input from many sectors in government, as well as in the private sector.

One of the many issues you will be discussing this week is ballast water - which by some has been referred to as "a marine cocktail on the move" - with a number of organisms - travelling around the world on ships - and sometimes establishing themselves in the places they visit on their "cruise". However, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is meeting in London this week, among other things to find technical solutions on ships to deal with this problem. I understand you will also hear a report from their work.

Norway places a lot of importance on a protocol on safe transfer, handling and use of genetically modified organisms - a biosafety protocol. The negotiations will start in Denmark in July, and I am optimistic that a protocol will make significant progress in the area of genetically modified organisms. Such organisms will also be one of your topics this week. And in this respect we might talk of "ecosafety", where we will seek to have safe transfer, handling and use of all organisms, not only those that are genetically modified.

I feel that it is now also time to focus on "biological pollution". States are now starting to accept regulations on chemical and physical pollution, and it should also be possible to convince them that efforts are needed to reduce "biological pollution". This will require that we limit "emissions" of alien species and introduce restrictions on the so-called vectors of these species. The key vectors are trade, shipping and other types of transport, aquaculture, agriculture and pest control, forestry, tourism and travel.

We must work together on this issue with all relevant authorities, not least those responsible for health and for food production. We must together integrate environmental concerns into the policies and activities of the economic sectors. This is also called for in article 6 of the Convention on Biological Diversity. This is still one of our main challenges in the field of environment. It also one of the reasons why we in the Ministry of Environment have joined forces with the ministries of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foreign Affairs when it comes to the organisation of today's conference.

Norway ratified the Convention in 1993. We are now in the process of finalising the National Action Plan in accordance with Article 6 of the Convention. This process is based on a strong involvement of other relevant Ministries. This implies that the relevant Ministries are made responsible for conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity pertaining to their own sector. The national action plan will constitute a part of a Parliamentary Report on Sustainable Development to be finalised in early 1997. In addition, seven municipalities have developed local action plans for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Norway will report on this process to the Conference of the Parties in 1997 in accordance with Article 26 of the Convention.

I would also like to use this opportunity to again point out the importance that Norway attaches to the need for acquiring and making use of the best available scientific knowledge as a basis for setting priorities and taking actions. Decisions must be based on the findings of the scientific community with due respect also for traditional knowledge and practices. Without a solid scientific basis for our priorities, we would face a great risk of making the wrong decisions. Decisions based too much on subjective values could also prove to have unfair or unjust implications.

The scientific work to be undertaken has to be built on extensive international co-operation, drawing upon experiences acquired in all geographical areas. Such as I believe you will do during this conference. In this respect I believe the Decision by the Conference of the Parties to prepare a Global Biodiversity Outlook is important for advancing the scientific basis for the implementation of the Convention. This will increase our understanding of how the various ecological, economic and social conditions lead to different practical solutions to conserve and use biodiversity in a sustainable manner.

I therefore hope that we will be able to join forces, and that we will be able to reap the benefits that intentional and well-planned use of alien species may provide. While at the same time using the precautionary principle and ensure that alien species do not cause detrimental effects neither to production systems nor natural systems nor to their biological diversity.

It is my hope that the lectures, working groups and discussions during the next few days will contribute to the work under the Convention on Biological Diversity. I am sure that this year's Conference will contribute to enhance knowledge and awareness on this important subject. I wish you all a rewarding stay in Norway and a successful Conference.

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Lagt inn 9 juli 1996 av Statens forvaltningstjeneste, ODIN-redaksjonen