The Early Warning Network for the Detection and Intervention of Invasive Alien Species (RedEXOS), of the Biodiversity Service of the Government of the Canary Islands, and the Isla de La Graciosa Center of the Autonomous Body of National Parks, recently attached to the Network, have carried out work to control the naturalized population of the species popularly known as bobo, Moorish tobacco or venenero (Nicotiana glauca) on the island of La Graciosa, thus continuing its work to protect Canarian biodiversity.
The Minister of Ecological Transition, Fight against Climate Change and Territorial Planning of the Government of the Canary Islands, José Antonio Valbuena, highlighted that "these works have consisted of exhaustive work to extract this invasive alien species in the natural environment of the island with the removal of more than 5,900 plants during the last eight months." "However, the monitoring and control work of the species must continue to prevent new outbreaks of it due to seeds that may have remained in the ground," added Valbuena.
The areas in which work has been carried out include Baja del Ganado, the Huerta Area, Montaña, Las Agujas, Montaña Amarilla, Montaña Bermeja and Montaña del Mojón, including vertical work in difficult-to-access environments.
As explained by the regional Executive, Nicotiana glauca is a species introduced to the islands through gardening and is recognized by its yellow flowers. This species is included in the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Alien Species for the Canary Islands and is a plant considered to be of "high risk" due to its high invasive capacity due to its high seed production, its ability to survive droughts and floods, its high capacity to sprout again and the high germination rates under a wide variety of conditions. Likewise, it is pointed out that "it is important to take into account that it contains toxic alkaloids, so you have to be very careful with its handling."
José Antonio Valbuena also stressed that this action is a further step towards achieving the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, which has the control of Invasive Alien Species as one of its goals. He also recalled that “the RedEXOS mobile application is available free of charge on the Android and iOS digital platforms and that it is a tool developed so that citizens can actively participate in the task of protecting our natural heritage from biological invasions.”
RedEXOS, integrated into the State Alert Network through Decree 117/2020, of November 19, aims to locate, identify, analyze, control or eradicate new outbreaks or populations of invasive alien species (IAS) in the spatial scope of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands, in order to prevent their establishment or expansion.
