Species introductions are considered by the UN the as the second leading cause of species extinctions, being preceded only by the triad of habitat loss, overexploitation and pollution, besides exerting a massive detrimental socio-economic impact on a global scale. According to the latest IPBES (Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services) report on non-indigenous species – the Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control – globally, a total of 37,000 species have been introduced by man and his activities to regions and biomes around the world, of which an estimated 3,500 species are harmful invasive alien species. The global economic cost of invasive alien species exceeded $423 billion annually in 2019, with costs having at least quadrupled every decade since 1970.
