Abstract
The introduction of non-native species (NNS) and the resulting biological invasions are conspicuous features of the Anthropocene Epoch. Parallel to these phenomena, some initiatives (political, social and scientific) have sought to value and protect invasive populations, recognizing some benefits that NNS may deliver to people and nature. Given this growing trend of valuing NNS, we considered opportune to address this issue in the context of megadiverse tropical countries. We investigated an emerging trend that has advocated the protection of highly invasive fishes by legal instruments, i.e., the protection of invasive peacock basses (genus Cichla) in Brazil. We recorded 16 bills or laws proposed between 2017 and 2022 that determine fishing restrictions to protect invasive Cichla spp. from overfishing and other impacts, in order to favor population recruitment, growth, colonization and spread. Specifically, they establish restrictions on fishing, capture, transport, trade, and processing, including quotas, compulsory catch and release, length limits, use of gears, and temporal interdictions. They also determine the naturalization of peacock basses in some main basins of South America, which include different watersheds and ecoregions, with risk of intercountry invasions. This particular case is instructive to unveil the risks of positions that emphasize positive contributions of NNS to society and nature, as these misguided conservation actions favor invasive organisms with high potential to cause environmental degradation, biodiversity losses, and social conflicts. These positions find fertile ground in some contexts, especially in tropical developing countries, where economic constraints, poor access to information, opportunism, and bad political behavior have been the norm.
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Data availability
The datasets analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ) for providing grants, research funds, and scholarships. Ana Ruth Souza contributed with drawing Figure 4. This paper is part of a work force coordinated by this research team who has implemented actions to combat misguided initiatives and legislation that protect invasive organisms in Brazil. Main actions include the production of technical reports, audiences, notes, and debates directed to the general public, authorities, and scientists.
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FMP and JRSV conceived the idea of the article, which was then debated with all authors. All authors contributed with data collection (bills and laws) and literature search. ECG conducted data analyses (Fig. 2). The first draft of the manuscript was written by FMP, and all authors commented on previous versions and developed the document. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Pelicice, F.M., Agostinho, A.A., Alves, C.B.M. et al. Unintended consequences of valuing the contributions of non-native species: misguided conservation initiatives in a megadiverse region. Biodivers Conserv 32, 3915–3938 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-023-02666-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-023-02666-z