Working with the horticultural industry to limit invasion risks: the Swiss experience

Building relationships with stakeholders involved in species introductions is increasingly considered as an effective means to mitigate invasion risks. The horticultural industry is of particular importance to the regulation of alien plants. This paper presents the initial experiences with a recently implemented environmental policy called ‘Duty to Inform’ which aims to limit the risk of plant invasions through alien horticultural plants in Switzerland. The Duty to Inform requires horticulturalists to inform their customers about risks of black‐listed plants and watch list plants. In a joint effort with the Swiss horticultural industry and Swiss authorities, the authors examined customers’ acceptance of plant labels as a means to supply information, and horticulturalists’ attitudes towards the Duty to Inform regulation, and their willingness to act pro‐environmentally. Plant labels were found to be an effective means to inform customers about plant invasion risks and appropriate handling of risk species. The results indicate that among Swiss horticulturalists the awareness of the invasive species problem and the willingness to act is high. Horticulturalists had positive attitudes towards the Duty to Inform regulation and other actions to reduce invasion risks. The authors suggest that these positive attitudes might stem from an active participation of horticulturalists in the development of invasive species regulations in Switzerland.