This award provides partial funding to George Roderick, (of the Department of Environmental Sciences, University of California/Berkeley), to organize a workshop on invasive species (IAS) for participants from member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in spring 2005. Jason Shogren, of the Department of Economics, U. of Wyoming, will serve as a consultant on the project. The problem of invasive species is increasingly recognized as an important threat to the ecology and economies of the APEC region. The idea of a workshop has been endorsed by the State Department and other APEC governments, and the government of China has offered to host the event. The workshop will be multisectoral, bringing together scientists, policy makers, and other experts in a wide variety of fields from around the Pacific Rim to develop an action agenda for APEC. It is envisioned that the agenda will encompass priority areas for cooperative research, mechanisms to share information and strengthen networks, and strengthening institutions to prevent the spread of, and mitigate the effects of IAS. Deliverables include a series of White Papers to APEC leaders and an Action Plan to deal with IAS.
