Netherlands Expertise Centre Exotics

An increasing number of animals, plants and microorganisms that do not occur naturally in the Netherlands are able to establish in the Dutch environment after being consciously or unconsciously introduced here by people. Well-known examples of these alien species are the Egyptian goose, pumpkinseed sunfish, floating pennywort and American bullfrog.

 

The speed with which alien species enter the Netherlands is increasing. Most of these species have hardly any impact on our environment and some even have positive effects.

 

However, there are also a number of alien species whose establishment has far-reaching negative effects on ecology, health, safety and society. The implementation of measures for prevention and control of these species is subject to various bottlenecks that make management challenging.

 

The Netherlands Expertise Centre Exotics brings together all available knowledge on alien species with the aim of improving approaches to their management and advising policy makers and nature managers on effective management measures.