Good practice:

A GUIDE TO THE ALIEN PLANTS OF GREECE

"A GUIDE TO THE ALIEN PLANTS OF GREECE" with reference to the NATURA 2000 Protected Areas Network is a valuable edition about the alien plants of Greece and is accompanied by the web-based platform www.alienplants.gr The creation of a relational database-web platform for the alien plants of Greece is a pioneering project that happens for the first time assigned to the University of Patras, Department of Biology, funded by and delivered to the Ntural Environment and Climate Change Agency (NECCA), on December 2020. On the web platform the user can a) find the checklist of alien plants of Greece, b) search the database through the mentioned categorizations and the functional and ecological characteristics of plant taxa (including families, flora, origin etc.), c) see the data through dynamic graphical presentations and statistical reports. Modern visualization tools are used for all the alien plants of Greece followed by reports that can be exported in different spatial scales (national, regional, local), so that interesting reports and analyses could be produced for research purposes, but also for policy planning. Both printed edition and web platform are useful tools because they help us understand that biological invasion impacts and effects is a major challenge on natural ecosystems and the related human activities and economy.

The creation of "A GUIDE TO THE ALIEN PLANTS OF GREECE" with reference to the NATURA 2000 Protected Areas Network and the web-based platform www.alienplants.gr is the result of the collaboration of 7 Scientists and the total cost of the project amounted to 20.000 euros plus VAT.

The evidence of success is first of all that for the first time Greece has such a Guide for Alien Plants with reference to the NATURA 2000 Protected Areas Network (printed edition) and a web-based platform for alien plants. The scientific society welcomed it warmly, so did the Press: this is certified by the INVALIS InfoDays we co-organized with the universities of our country and the tribute of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) to the issue.

We consider this practice as being potentially interesting for other regions to learn from in case they have not already created a national guide to the alien plants. Because biological invasions consist one of the most important threats to biodiversity and fuctioning of natural ecosystems in Europe (within and outside protected areas) and can cause negative consequences in ecology, economy and livehood, degrading ecological and human societies. Such a National Guide is a necessary tool for policy planning across Europe.