Key information for interpreting the estimates
Approach & data: The level / scale of costs of developing IAS management plans has been developed based on existing costs at European (EPPO) and national level and expert opinion. The investment in / costs of management actions of ‘IAS of EU concern’ has been estimated based on the past EU and MS investment to these activities under LIFE funding. The possible level / scale of investment in IAS management activities and restoration of IAS impacts at national level are based on existing investments in such activities.
Robustness & limitations: The estimates are based on broad estimations based on existing investments in IAS management activities, expert opinion and examples from other policy areas. Consequently, they should be considered as indicative only.
Overlaps with other estimates: The estimated staff costs related to the development of IAS action plans could diminish if a dedicated body for coordinating / managing IAS policy development and implementation is developed (i.e. the most ambitious options in sections 6.2 and 6.8 below).
Possible cost-savings: Possible costs saving could occur if, where appropriate, joint management for several IAS were developed and if ‘on-the-ground’ management activities focus on multiple IAS.
The costs associated with IAS control and management in the context of the EU Strategy are foreseen to be caused by targeted actions to manage the spread of IAS within the EU, e.g.
developing dedicated EU-level action / management plans and initiating EU-level management actions for those ‘IAS of EU concern’ that are already established within the EU. In addition, depending on the EU Strategy’s overall ambition, a certain amount of financing (e.g. EU funding) could also be dedicated to restoring ecosystems impacted by IAS.
The estimated cost of developing an EU-level action / management plan for an ‘IAS of EU concern’ is estimated to be around 42 000 EUR / action plan / species (total) (see Table 6.7).
Based on this estimate, the costs of developing EU-level action plans could range between 84 000 EUR – 429 000 EUR / year for a total of 2 to 10 action plans (respectively). Based on previous Community support for controlling and managing IAS in the context of LIFE funding, the level of EU investment in IAS management could amount to a minimum of 1.5 – 9 million EUR / year, depending on the level of investment (Table 6-7). Just to put this level of investment into context, in 2002 in Denmark (surface area 43.000 km2) the authorities from local to state level used 22 800 000 DKK (~ 3 250 000 EUR ) and 39 900 working hours to manage H. mantegazzianum (Hans Erik Svart, pers. comm.).
At MS level, the current known costs of developing national IAS action plans are known to range between 4000 EUR - 30 000 EUR / management plan / (total). These costs could be foreseen to take place either when there is a need to address IAS of national concern and/or support the above EU level management plans with a more detailed national / regional activities. In terms of ‘on-the-ground’ management actions, the estimated minimum earmarked national financing (i.e. financing required to complement the EU-financed management actions) currently range between 30 000 - 360 000 EUR / year / Member State
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(Table 6-7). This should be considered as an indication of a minimum level of investment to manage IAS at national level, possibly especially targeted to ‘IAS of EU concern’. In reality, the total current / future investment in IAS management and control actions at the national level are likely to be higher and will vary widely depending on MS ambitions.
Note: estimated staff costs related to the development of IAS action plans could be diminished if a dedicated body for coordinating / managing IAS policy development and implementation is developed (i.e. the most ambitious options in sections 6.2 and 6.8 below).
The costs of restoration greatly depend on the overall ambition and scale of individual restoration activities. It is therefore not feasible to determine a total / desired level of investment in restoration at the EU and/or MS level. Based on existing information from the US, the investment in / costs of restoration activities at national and/or regional level can range between 100 000 EUR – 2 million EUR / year.
In general, the costs of controlling and managing ‘IAS of EU concern’ are envisaged to be shared by the EU and MS e.g. to receive support from the EU budget via different EU-level financial instruments (see also 5.6 above). It is also foreseen that EU-level financing could be made available to support key restoration actions at the EU level. Finally, there are also possibilities to finance IAS management from broader financing sources, e.g. identification of possible liability could be considered as an additional basis for allocating the costs of control and restoration activities (e.g. to enable recovery of costs from private actors).
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Table 6-7 Estimated level of costs for control, management and restoration actions.Note: the estimated level / scale of costs is indicative only. STRATEGY COMPONENTESTIMATED COSTS OF THE STRATEGY COMPONENTDATA & APPROACH USED TO DEVELOP THE ESTIMATE Type of cost Level of investment / coverage / ambition
Cost item / indicator of costs Estimated level / scale of costs Data and approachOrigin / reference CONTROL, MANAGEMENT & RESTORATION: management plans
Developing action / management plans for already established 'IAS of EU concern'
Number of plans: 2 targeted IAS Low Costs of developing targeted IAS management plans 70 000 EUR / total (one-off) Action plans for IAS proposed within LIFE projects, cost between 20 000 and 50 000 EUR / total (one-off) /species), inc. staff costs . Average costs = 35 000 EUR / action plan (total). Note: Staff costs are likely to be diminished if a dedicated body for coordinating / managing IAS policy development and implementation is developed (section 6.8)
EPPO costs: Riccardo Scalera pers. comm. in the context of this study. Costs of expert / staff input: team's own estimate.
Number of plans: 5 targeted IAS Moderate175 000 EUR / total (one-off) Number of plans: 10 targeted IAS High350 000 EUR / total (one-off) Developing action / management plans for already established IAS of Member State's concern
N/A
MS level costs vary depending on MS ambitions, i.e. number of plans / year not feasible to estimate. A range of possible costs given based on the existing information re: costs of developing action / management plans at national level 3900 EUR - 33 000 EUR / management plan / species / Member State (total / one-off) Examples of costs of national IAS management / action plans: Ireland: costs of exclusion strategies and contingency/management plans ~ 3 900 EUR / plan, excluding the time given in kind by steering group members for peer review; Lithuania: costs of developing an action plan for raccoon dog 40 000 Lt / year (~ 12 000 EUR / year) and amur / chinese sleeper 15 000 Lt / year (~ 4350 EUR) (inc. related research); Italy (Lazio region): Action plan for the eradication of the american mink in the region: 33 000 EUR; Denmark: a plan for eradicating the racoon dog 11.000 EUR (exc.time used in steering group meetings).
Irish national Invasive Species Programme: Cathy Maguire, pers. comm.. in the context of this project Hans Erik Svart (Ministry of Environment /Danish Forest and Nature Agency), pers. comm. In the context of this project Riccardo Scalera, pers. comm. in the context of this project