When faced with a large pool of invasive, or potentially invasive alien plants, prioritization is an essential prerequisite to focus limited resources on species which will have the highest negative impact and can be prevented from entering, or cost effectively managed in the European Union. 

Within the LIFE funded project ‘Mitigating the threat of invasive alien plants to the EU through pest risk analysis to support the Regulation 1143/2014’, the prioritization process incorporating the requirements of the EU Regulation has been specifically amended from the EPPO prioritization process for invasive alien plants PM 5/6(1).  Amendments and use are specific to the LIFE Project (LIFE15 PRE FR 001).

The process can be used for any plant species, subspecies or lower taxa. It consists of compiling available information on the assessed alien species according to predetermined criteria.

The process produces lists of plant species compliant with the main principles and criteria of the Regulation, the most important being the EU List of Invasive Alien Plants and the List of Priority Invasive Alien Plants for performing a EU level RA. The process is summarized in Fig. 1.

Instructions to download and use the prioritization process software:

• Download CAPRA "life" version
• Unzip the downloaded file to a folder on your computer
• Open the zipfile
• Open CAPRA.exe
• Press run
• Press new analysis
• Select LIFE Prioritization Process for Invasive Alien Plants
• Give the file a title
• Work through the questions starting with stage 1.
• Clicking on information buttons provides the user with guidance to answer the questions.

Fig. 1. Decision scheme summarizing the prioritization process for EU invasive alien plant species incorporating the requirements of Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014