The Bahamas National Invasive Species Strategy 2013.

The Bahamas National Invasive Species Strategy is a national policy with a sectoral approach. The goal of the Strategy is the protection of environment, genetic diversity of flora and fauna, as well as of ecosystem services, through the prevention of introduction as well as management and eradication of invasive species.
National inter-agency coordination as well as regional and international collaboration will be strengthened through information sharing on invasive alien species. One of the natural resource management agencies will be appointed as the National IAS Coordinator to improve inter-agency coordination. With respect to multilateral environmental agreements, international and regional obligations will be fulfilled by the Government. Furthermore the Government shall participate in the international arena to follow the developments in data, information and new technologies for IAS management. Institutional capacity building will be enhanced for the identification, safely handling, holding or transfer of these species through risk assessment of imported organisms and improvement of border control and containment. Risk assessment infrastructure will be developed in compliance with WTO and IPCC risk analysis criteria. Risk assessment will be incorporated into the Environmental Impact Assessment process in determining the impacts of development projects. As early detection of and response to invasive alien species, an inventory of species and mapping of their locations, a rapid-response plan and public notification system will be developed. Measures will be taken to eliminate or reduce the effects of invasive species, including eradicating infestations, reducing populations of invasive species, preventing their spread and mitigating their impact on the economy. The introduction of invasive species will be controlled to eliminate loss of genetic diversity and native species, disease outbreaks, parasitism and predation, and environmental degradation. Quarantine, screening and control facilities will be expanded at specific ports. Monitoring will be conducted to evaluate the presence of invasive species, their impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and the effectiveness of prevention and control activities particularly in public areas, national parks, protected areas, freshwater sources and field stations. Public awareness will be raised through campaigns, educational materials and effective public services about invasive species. An IAS database will be developed to collect and thereby disseminate reliable and adequate data to all stakeholders. Research studies will be carried out to develop scientific knowledge, methods and technologies to prevent, detect, control and monitor invasive species or to restore native species and habitats. Legislative framework will be developed to identify barriers to invasive species control and management. Invasive alien species management will be integrated into economic policy development and development of economic tools to facilitate management. Funds will be allocated for the effective implementation the National Invasive Species Strategy. Moreover government initiatives will be funded to remove invasive plants and replace them with native species.