1,500, species have been classified in different risk categories by the SLU ArtDatabanken and one of those who are considered “high risk” is found in many Swedish homes and gardens.
On behalf of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Marine and Water Authority (HAV), SLU Artdatabanken has carried out a risk classification of foreign species that exist in Sweden. This is the second classification you do in Sweden.
In a press release, HaV states that 5,500 species have been classified. Of these, 2,000 have moved on to an in -depth sight, while approximately 1,500 species received a so -called risk category.
“The work on risk classification is based on an assessment of the species’ invasion potential and their ecological effect. The assessed species are placed in one of five risk categories: from ‘no known risk’ to ‘very high risk’,” explains the authority.
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Some species have gone from low risk to high risk
Some species, which were classified as early as 2018, have risen in risk. Kamslöla and large loop – two vascular plants – have gone from low risk to high risk.
– At the first class of 2018, we did not know that the species were in Sweden. They come from warmer latitudes so we thought they would find it difficult to survive in the Swedish climate, says Lina Tomassonnational coordinator for invasive foreign species at the Marine and Water Authority, in the press release.
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The goldfish is classified as “high risk”
Another species that ended up in the “high risk” category is Carassius Auratus- in the folk mouth called goldfish and a popular aquarium and dustfish in many Swedish homes and gardens.
The background to the classification is that the goldfish risks competing for both food and space with domestic fish.
In recent years, more and more reports have been received that goldfish have been found in Swedish nature.
– The number of darkness is probably still large, not least because they usually lose their eye -catching color when living in natural environments, says Lina Tomasson in the press release.
Illegal to release goldfish in Swedish nature
When News24 Talking to Lina Tomasson, she explains that the increased occurrence of goldfish in nature is simply because people, in one way or another, release them.
– It may be that they can escape from garden ponds that are somehow connected, but we rather think that you do not want to kill them, so you think you are kind when you release them in nature when you get tired of them, she says and continues:
– But it may also be that you do it because you think it would be “fun” to have goldfish in Swedish water, but then you make nature a huge service. In addition, it is illegal. You have to seek permission to put out fish.
Are there any practical implications of this new risk classification for those who have goldfish in their ownership?
– No, this classification is a purely scientific study, so there are no legal consequences or so. It will be used as a basis in the work on invasive species in Sweden, Tomasson notes.
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