A study published in Frontiers in Conservation Science and highlighted on Earth.com finds invasive species can force people from their land — but this form of displacement is rarely tracked. Cases include an invasive cactus that displaced hundreds of farmers in Kenya, water hyacinth that decimated fisheries in Cameroon, and little fire ants that made Pacific farms unworkable. The authors urge governments to report invasive-species–linked land abandonment to displacement-monitoring agencies to better target funding and rapid responses.
Invasive Species Forced Hundreds From Their Land — Researchers Urge Official Tracking
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Researchers warn that invasive plants and animals are not only harming ecosystems but are also forcing people from their homes and livelihoods — a form of displacement that is rarely recorded. A new paper in Frontiers in Conservation Science, highlighted on Earth.com, documents several cases where invasives made farms and fisheries unusable and drove families to leave their land.
Case Studies
In Laikipia County, central Kenya, the Mukurian Group Ranch saw the cactus Opuntia stricta colonize roughly two-thirds of grazing and farming areas. Local officials estimate that about 600 of the ranch’s 1,200 farmers departed as productive land became unusable.
Near Douala in Cameroon’s Wouri River Basin, dense mats of water hyacinth overwhelmed waterways and fishing grounds; the researchers report that roughly 60% of working fishermen left and the local catch fell by about 76%.
On several Pacific islands — including New Caledonia, French Polynesia and the Galápagos — infestations of the little fire ant have made fields and orchards effectively unworkable, contributing to farm abandonment and the erosion of traditional livelihoods.
Why This Matters
These examples show invasive species can undermine food security, household incomes and people's ability to remain in communities where they have deep cultural ties. Yet the social consequences of biological invasions receive little attention in scientific research: a 2017 review of more than 9,000 invasive-species studies found that only 4.4% examined social impacts at all.
Recommendations
Authors Jamie Reaser and Arne Witt argue that governments should report land abandonment and human displacement linked to invasive species to the same international agencies that monitor migration caused by conflict and disasters. Including invasions in formal displacement metrics could make the problem more visible, guide funding, and help prioritize prevention, early detection and rapid response efforts before farms, ranches and fisheries become irreversibly damaged.
"In the case of invasive alien species, too little attention has been given to the link between their spread and forced migration," said Arne Witt. "This is despite their close connections. Nevertheless, migration is a growing global concern."
Greater monitoring and reporting would also help tailor emergency assistance and long-term planning to communities facing biological invasions, protecting both livelihoods and cultural ties to place.
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