Vieraslajit.fi, the primary channel for information on invasive alien species, has been renewed
Vieraslajit.fi makes Finnish information on invasive alien species available to all. Demand for information on alien species has increased, for example, due to legal amendments.
Now, data on invasive alien species is more easily and comprehensively available on the updated vieraslajit.fi website. Content providers in the data service, maintained by the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (FinBIF) and edited by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), include the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Finnish Environment Institute and the Finnish Food Authority.
– The vieraslajit.fi website was established in 2014. During the past seven years, demand for information on invasive alien species has increased even further through legal amendments, new control plans and updated lists of species. The goal is that users can easily find the information they need from the vieraslajit.fi service, says Erja Huusela, senior scientist at Luke.
During the update, the website’s usability and accessibility, as well as its interoperability with different data systems were improved, and data searches and data grouping were diversified.
– As new technologies also enabled different language versions, the website now offers information in Swedish, as well, says Kari Lahti, unit director at Luomus, the Finnish Museum of Natural History, which operates under the University of Helsinki. The goal of FinBIF, coordinated by Luomus, is to collect all species data produced in Finland and make it available as a harmonised and open access dataset.
The vieraslajit.fi website includes comprehensive information on invasive alien species, including instructions for their identification and control. Users can report their observations and view observations of different species on maps. The service includes all the invasive alien species listed by the EU and Finland, as well as volumes of data on legislation and control plans. News and information on invasive alien species from other sources are also published on the website. In addition, the website includes a separate section for civic activities, presenting volunteer activities under the Finvasive (VieKas) LIFE project, for example.
Currently, information in vieraslajit.fi is mainly available in Finnish and Swedish. Some parts of the information, eg. EU and national legislation, management plans and civic activities, are also available in English. The amount of information in English will increase as the development of the data site progresses.
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