From local alerts to European policy impact: toward faster detection and communication of invasive species threats

Description

Presenter
Damiano Oldoni

Authors
Nicolas Noé - The binary forest, Belgium
Tim Adriaens - Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Belgium
Ana Cristina Cardoso - Joint Research Centre, Italy
Fabio D'Amico - Engineering Ingegneria Informatica S.p.A, Italy
Quentin Groom - Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium
Stelios Katsanevakis - University of the Aegean, Greece
Lien Reyserhove - Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Belgium
Damiano Oldoni - Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), Belgium

Abstract
It is universally recognised that early detection of invasive alien species (IAS) incursions is the most cost-effective way to prevent invasion once they have been introduced. At the TDWG 2022 annual conference we presented an early alert tool (https://alert.riparias.be/), an open-source system designed to send e-mail alerts to researchers and managers of IAS based on GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) occurrence data (https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.6.93879). The tool was developed by the LIFE RIPARIAS project (https://www.riparias.be/en) and it was initially tailored to a specific project area and thirty target species. However, the importance of the tool transcended the project, as other actors within the Belgian IAS landscape were interested in using it. Adding some specific areas of interest and extending the taxonomic scope were relatively easy improvements with a high positive impact.The software consists of two independent elements: the tool core functionality, or engine, and the configuration setup, which specifies the areas and species of interest, the text elements and the general web appearance. The engine, called GBIF Alert, is an open source software (https://github.com/riparias/gbif-alert) to use in combination with a configuration setup to create an alert tool based on Darwin Core Archive and tailored to the specific target community, and so transcending the initial Belgian IAS community. This flexibility was not only awarded with winning the 2023 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge, but is also leading to further development in the context of two European Horizon projects started in 2025: GuardIAS (https://guardias.eu/) and OneSTOP (https://onestop-project.eu/). Thanks to the collaboration with the European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN, https://easin.jrc.ec.europa.eu/easin), the tool is evolving to become a European initiative with potential for direct impact on decision-making.

Period	22-Oct-2025
Event title	Living Data 2025: Joint TDWG, GBIF, GEO BON and OBIS conference
Event type	Conference
Location	Bogota, ColombiaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International