Invasive species a plague in Poland. NIK criticizes public administration’s actions

The Supreme Audit Office (NIK) issued a negative opinion on how the General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ) fulfills its statutory duty to identify and combat invasive species of plants and animals (IAS). Irregularities were also detected in individual municipalities. According to NIK, legal amendments are necessary.

Municipalities’ problems with implementing the provisions of the Alien Species Act

The Alien Species Act, adopted in August 2021 (Dz.U. 2021 poz. 1718), was intended to align national regulations with the requirements of Regulation No. 1143/2014 of the European Parliament. Its goal is to limit the negative impact that invasive species have on ecosystems, the economy, and human health. Key responsibilities in this area were assigned to public administration, particularly to mayors, city presidents, and municipal leaders.

An NIK audit conducted in 17 selected municipalities revealed serious irregularities in the implementation of the IAS Act. The report’s authors found that the biggest issue is the lack of proper definition of tasks related to combating alien species—5 of the inspected municipalities did not even have an environmental protection program, and in the remaining ones, there were no provisions concerning IAS.

Worse still, none of the inspected offices conducted research to identify invasive species in their area. Meanwhile, according to NIK, there were as many as 246 previously unidentified IAS locations in the analyzed areas, and in six municipalities, the dangerous Sosnowsky’s hogweed was found near sidewalks, schools, and residential areas. Irregularities were detected in places such as Morąg, Szklarska Poręba, Szczytna, and Gryfino.

Serious allegations against GDOŚ and RDOŚ

According to the provisions of the Act, the General Director for Environmental Protection is responsible for preparing an action plan concerning the priority pathways for the spread of IAS that pose a threat to the EU or Poland. Although the document was developed, NIK states that it does not contain target values for selected performance indicators, making it impossible to assess the achievement of strategic and overarching goals.

NIK’s allegations also concern the agreement signed in 2016 between GDOŚ and the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management regarding the development of control and eradication principles for IAS. The project’s value was PLN 19.5 million, but its results are disproportionate to the costs incurred. Due to significant negligence, the final list of alien species posing a threat to Poland omitted 21 species considered moderately or highly invasive. NIK also found the register maintained by GDOŚ as part of the IAS monitoring system to be flawed. According to auditors, it does not present actual data on the scale and distribution of invasive plant and animal species.

The NIK audit also covered 468 nature reserves within the jurisdiction of five Regional Directorates for Environmental Protection (RDOŚ). In 298 of them, there were no protection plans whatsoever. All inspected RDOŚ were also accused of not undertaking remedial actions against IAS, even after receiving appropriate notifications.

Invasive species in Poland require intervention

In its conclusions from the audit, NIK calls for amendments to the existing IAS Act to clearly indicate the entities responsible for identifying invasive species. At the same time, it urges the expansion of local government powers to remove IAS at the expense of property managers who fail to take preventive measures themselves.

NIK also suggests that the Minister of Climate and Environment should fund municipalities’ tasks related to the identification and eradication of alien species and calls on GDOŚ to increase supervision over RDOŚ and properly maintain the IAS Register.

The report’s authors remind that across the EU, invasive alien species cause ecosystem, economic, and social damage amounting to 12 billion euros annually. Their eradication across Europe should now be one of the top priorities for environmental protection.