National Invasive Species Strategy and Action Plan 2016-2021.

The National Invasive Species Strategy and Action Plan is a national policy with a cross-sectoral approach. The timeframe of the policy is 5 years between 2016 and 2021. The goal of this Strategy and Action Plan is to prevent the introduction of new alien invasive species to the country, limit further spread of invasive species within the country and manage and eradicate existing invasive species in order to ensure biodiversity conservation, food security, protection of health, sustainable development, economic growth, employment and increased resilience to climate change.
Public awareness will be raised on the impacts of priority invasive species on biodiversity, economy, livelihoods and health. The workshops will be carried out for farmers and general public on integrated pest management. Moreover, community-focused education and awareness resources will be developed to cope with threats of invasive species both in the terrestrial and marine areas. The institutions, skills, infrastructure, technical support, information management, networks and exchanges will be developed for the effective management and eradication of invasive species. Training programmes on species identification, control and monitoring techniques, and risk assessment will be conducted. The policy and legal frameworks will be developed with a focus on biosecurity and biosafety. The monitoring and data collection systems will be improved to detect changes and emerging impacts. The list of priority species will be established and risk assessments will be conducted for each species proposed for import. Biosecurity mechanisms will be established to prevent the spread of invasive species across international borders, between states and within states, such as strengthening existing border controls, transport controls and quarantine systems. Cross-sectoral planning and information sharing will be improved for marine system activities. Effective early detection and response system for invasive alien species incursion will be established and maintained. Invasive species management best practices will be implemented to facilitate effective restoration of native biodiversity in order to improve the sustainability of islands and communities.
The Office of Environmental Planning and Policy shall be responsible of coordinating the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of this Strategy with support from other key offices such as Quarantine and Marshall Islands Marine Resource Authority as well as the Marshall Islands Invasive Species Taskforce.