Vol. 7, Issue 2 | June 2015

Invasive Alien Species

By Christiane Weiller

French garden centers have been working on the Invasive Alien Species regulation in the European Union together with other French horticultural professions. This new regulation, which focuses only on species introduced into the European Union as a consequence of human intervention, is important for biodiversity in our country but can also harm our businesses if wrongly implement.

Garden centres aim to inform the French administration and avoid a more stringent than necessary list of species, therefore two lists were prepared:

– A first list which includes plant species really dangerous for the environment and without any sales value
– A second list which includes plant species who can be invasive in certain parts of France but are of value for customers in other parts of our country

Alongside with this lobbying, garden centers are invited to sign a “code of conduct” in which they swear to be aware of the lists of invasive alien species, to help detect them, to stop selling them, to inform customers about them and about local substitution species.

Christiane Weiller
Fédération Nationale des Métiers de la Jardinerie