LIFE IP AZORES NATURA, coordinated by the Regional Secretariat for the Environment and Climate Action, took part in the workshop IMPEL – Invasive Alien Species (IAS): Communication Strategy for Awareness Raising, sharing the Azores’ experience in the management and prevention of invasive alien species, within a framework of cooperation and learning at European level.

IMPEL (European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law) is a European network bringing together environmental authorities from various Member States, promoting cooperation, the exchange of best practice and the strengthening of the implementation and enforcement of European Union environmental legislation.

As part of the presentation ‘Between Landscape and Biodiversity: Managing Invasive Alien Species in the Azores’, several key aspects were highlighted, namely:

• the high vulnerability of the Azores’ island ecosystems;
• the impacts of invasive alien species on native biodiversity and the landscape;
• the importance of communication, raising awareness and the active involvement of society;
• the role of prevention, early detection and citizen science;
• the interconnection between nature conservation, sustainable tourism and territorial identity.

LIFE IP AZORES NATURA’s participation in this workshop stresses the importance of European cooperation and the sharing of experiences in defining effective strategies for the management of invasive alien species, thereby contributing to the promotion of more resilient ecosystems and more sustainable territorial development.

With the financial support of the LIFE Programme of the European Union.