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The presence of invasive species generally leads to negative impacts, some perhaps irreversible, and the economic costs from the impacts and their management can be substantial and long-lasting. Efforts to understand the extent of damages caused by invasive species are slowly gaining momentum globally; however, in many countries, efforts are only beginning. This guide will assist Pacific island practitioners to use the costs that result from invasive species incursions to gain support to fund prevention, management, restoration, research and outreach. SPREP thanks James Stanford, Aaron Buncle, and Jarrod Troutbeck, who advised the development of this guide.

Early Detection and Rapid Response (EDRR) systems are the first line of defence against invasive species once they have penetrated national or inter-island biosecurity systems. For these systems to be effective, a plan is required to coordinate the responsible agencies and ensure both the systems and equipment to address the detected species are in place prior to the response. Several countries have developed these plans recently, which are available on the Battler Resource Base. SPREP thanks James Stanford, who drafted the text for this guide.

The invasive battler has a difficult job. Many of the management solutions for invasive species require a broad base of information to determine the best way to approach an issue and determine if the approach is feasible. Likely questions a battler will face are: what is that species? How did it get here and where will it go next? Is it a risk to our environment or other important national asset? Where else is this species found and what did they do about it? This guide was developed to assist the invasive species battler in accessing information to answer these questions and decide about management action.|SPREP thanks Shyama Pagad from the Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) for drafting this guide. The ISSG performs a vital role in storing and making available invasive species data for the Pacific.

National or Territory Invasive Species Strategies and Action Plans (NISSAP) are a critical document to ensure invasive species management is coordinated within a country or territory and that the different sectors involved with invasive species management are working together toward the same goals. NISSAP are essential to show political will for managing invasive species and are looked upon favourably by funding bodies.

Dealing with invasive species is a huge job. Invasive species are everyone's responsibility, but people can only help if they are aware and know what they can change to make a difference. This guide is designed to support your creation of cost-effective communications campaigns to reduce the impact of invasive species in Pacific Island nations. Thanks to Steve Menzies and the Pasifika Collective for assisting with the design of the campaign, assisting and advising SPREP through the process, and preparing the draft text for this guide. In January 2015, the Invasive Species team from (SPREP) began a targeted public campaign to stop the spread of the little fire ant across the Pacific. This guide uses examples from the "Stop the Little Fire Ant!" campaign to highlight the key steps needed to develop and implement an effective strategy.