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Invasive alien species are recognised as one of the leading threats to biodiversity and also impose enormous costs on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and other human enterprises, as well as on human health. Rapidly accelerating human trade, tourism, transport, and travel over the past century have dramatically enhanced the spread of invasive species, allowing them to surmount natural geographic barriers. Not all non-indigenous species are harmful. In fact the majority of species used in agriculture, forestry and fisheries are alien species. Thus, the initial step in a national programme must be to distinguish the harmful from the harmless alien species and identify the impacts of the former on native biodiversity.