T.V. Sajeev, Senior Principal Scientist, Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi, has been nominated by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) as the national focal point for the Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network (APFISN).
The APFISN is a network of 33 member countries in the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission, which is a statutory body of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Dr. Sajeev currently coordinates the nodal centre for biological invasions at the KFRI. He had been active in developing management strategies against the invasion of the Giant African Snail and the Red-eared Slider Turtle, which came to India from Africa and Mexico respectively and caused both economic and ecological impacts.
He is also the member of a committee constituted by the Madras High Court to evolve strategies to manage invasive alien plants in the Nilgiris. Recently, he had detected the Barnacle Wax Scale Insect, Ceroplastes cirripediformis, an invasive pest of horticultural crops, native to southern United States and the Caribbean Islands, which was established in Kerala recently.
The focal point is entrusted to provide technical support in managing biological invasions in the Asia-Pacific region and to help develop policy directives.
