Bioeconomic management of invasive alien species: cost-benefit analysis of control strategies in protected ecosystems

Abstract Invasive species represent a major environmental danger which threatens to destroy the biodiversity of protected areas throughout the world. The research evaluated costs and benefits associated with various methods for controlling invasive species across five protected sites in Malaysia which included Taman Negara National Park and Selangor Forests and Kuala Selangor Nature Park and Gunung Mulu National Park and Danum Valley Conservation Area. The research used three control methods which included mechanical and chemical and biological methods to treat three types of plant species and two types of fish species and one type of animal species (e.g. Rattus rattus) in controlled experimental plots which operated with three different testing intervals. The research demonstrated that biological control achieved 80.7% population reduction after 12 months which established it as the most effective long-term method while chemical control achieved 75.6% population control and mechanical control achieved 57.4% population control. The chemical method produced its best results during the first three months when it achieved 91.7% effectiveness. The benefit-cost ratio was 3.84 for biological method and 2.50 for chemical method and 1.71 for mechanical method. The biological method generated a net present value of 42.1 million ringgit throughout its 20-year operational period. The chemical method produced its most detrimental impact on non-target species when it caused 34.2% mortality in beneficial insects while the biological method demonstrated its least detrimental effects. The study results demonstrate that biological control serves as the most economically efficient and environmentally sustainable solution to handle invasive species in Malaysian protected areas although its initial effectiveness remains lower than other methods. The no-action scenario with losses of 89.4 million ringgit over the next 20 years emphasizes the importance of investing in timely control.

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