Uniting against invasive plant species: protecting forests and cities in Europe and Central Asia

Aggressive and invasive plant species continue to undermine biodiversity, ecosystem safety and sustainable land management in Europe and Central Asia. Both forest ecosystems and urban green spaces face ecological imbalance, loss of native species, increased fire risk and human health risk due to allergies, not to mention the emerging costs of mitigating these effects. 

Urbanization, climate change and growing global trade have exacerbated the introduction and spread of these species, necessitating concrete and coordinated regional efforts in this area.

To this end, forest and urban landscape managers, policymakers, scientists and civil society representatives came together from 13 to 16 October 2025 at the Forest Invasive Species Network for Europe and Central Asia (REUFIS) technical workshop and annual meeting to address the escalating threat posed by invasive plant species across the region.

Organized by REUFIS and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), this hybrid conference, held at the Slovenian Forestry Institute in Ljubljana, Slovenia, reflected the importance of broad participation and regional collaboration in tackling this transboundary challenge.

The cost of the damage caused by invasive species is difficult to quantify, as both the impacts on ecosystem services in non-production systems and the efforts to manage them and restore degraded forests are immense. This highlights the importance of early detection and rapid response to prevent their introduction and spread. Launched by FAO in 2017, REUFIS offers a strategic platform to bring together forestry and urban experts, policymakers, members of academia and civil society to share experiences and innovative tools and to develop actionable strategies to combat invasive plant species. REUFIS is one of the regional forest health and invasive species networks facilitated by FAO.

The annual meeting highlighted the current state and impact of invasive plant species across the region and promoted early detection, monitoring and control approaches that combine ecological, social and regulatory measures. Crucially, participants also focused on bridging policy gaps, fostering intersectoral and transboundary cooperation to enhance regional responses, and supporting capacity building and knowledge sharing among REUFIS member countries.

FAO Forestry Officer Shiroma Sathyapala spoke during the opening of the annual meeting about the importance of collective action against invasive plant species.

“The challenge of invasive plant species requires a united front and multidisciplinary approach across countries and sectors,” she said. “This meeting provides an invaluable opportunity to share experiences in the management of invasive plant species and innovations that will strengthen sustainable forest and urban landscape management throughout Europe and Central Asia.”

The programme included keynote lectures, presentations from member countries showcasing emerging problems and success stories, and a field trip to Cerje in Slovenia for a demonstration of real-world invasive species management.

FAO remains steadfast in facilitating regional forest invasive species networks, including REUFIS, to safeguard biodiversity and ecosystem resilience against the threat of invasive species.