LIFE Resilias prevents dominance of invasive alien species by strengthening the resilience of forest and nature

During the seven years of the LIFE Resilias project, we will work intensively on system based nature restoration to break and prevent the dominance of invasive alien species. The main purpose of the project is to strengthen the resilience of ecosystems, so they can defend themselves better against invasive alien species (IAS).

This is an unique approach, since people usually choose to combat the alien species. With the ecosystem approach in LIFE Resilias we focus on strengthening forests and nature, to prevent invasive species to threaten the native flora and fauna.

In the project, partners Bosgroep Zuid Nederland and Stichting Bargerveen show the opportunities and possibilities of strengthening the resilience of forest and nature. The project has been made possible thanks to the LIFE programme of the European Union.

European policy on invasive alien species has three strategies: prevent, early recognition & rapid removal, and management. The focus of LIFE Resilias is on the sustainable management of the ecosystems in which invasive alien species are present. The uniqueness of this project is that we focus on the functioning of the existing ecosystems, rather than on the continuous control of the alien species. A bonus is that we are also working to prevent new alien species from establishing at the expense of the native ecosystem.