Filipino, Chilean scientists: Small islands, invasive species need research, policy attention

Filipino and Chilean scientists recently advised governments and communities of the significance of safeguarding small islands and warned them against the aggressive rates of invasive alien species that contribute to biodiversity loss.

In a recently published article in the npj Biodiversity journal, Andrea Monica Ortiz, Laurice Jamero, Silvio Crespin, Cecilia Ramirez, Denise Matias, Jameela Joy Reyes, Anibal Pauchard, and Tony La Viña of the Ateneo School of Government highlighted the need to include small islands in research and policy attention.

Small islands are not only more vulnerable to climate change and biodiversity loss but they also play a vital role in the ecosystem and the stability of human life on Earth.

While the Small Islands Developing States (SIDS), a political group of 39 states and 18 associate members of the United Nations regional commissions, have uplifted the case of small islands in the global policy sphere, it is still limited to those part of the assemblage.