Non-native Species

(asked on 20th February 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the report entitled, Economic Cost of Invasive Non-Native Species on Great Britain, published by CABI in November 2010, what the cost to the public purse has been of Invasive Non-Native Species since 2010.


Answered by
Thérèse Coffey Portrait
Thérèse Coffey
This question was answered on 27th February 2019

The responsibility for tackling invasive non-native species (INNS) and the associated costs of mitigating the damage they cause will impact on a number of departments and non-departmental public bodies. The Government does not hold collated information on the direct cost to the ‘public purse’. However, we are working towards furthering our understanding of the impact of invasive species, including their economic costs. Defra has recently commissioned a scoping study which will investigate whether it is possible to quantify a broader range of impacts of INNS on natural capital assets and the ecosystem services they provide. This will build on CABI’s Defra-funded study from 2010, which was a substantial and detailed assessment. The study clearly demonstrated that the costs of INNS to the British economy are considerable and widespread.

Reticulating Splines