From the opening post, I gather that this list is just a proposal for species that should be included as invasive threats...so nothing has been finalised yet?
Surely, before the draft is approved, it would need to be put before a board where evidence for and against the proposal would be presented....and then a decision made?
I haven't got a clue what the formal process is, but I would guess in a democracy, these kinds of procedures would need to be followed?
Surely the "forces that be" didn't just decide that Jacarandas and Port Jackson were invasive threats and that was that?
I'd really like to see the proof that Poecilotheria regalis colonies are sprouting up all over the Western Cape(or could, for that matter)...

Contact the SANBI and find out who is responsible for compiling the list(or from which poor petshop owners website they copied the information from).
Contact the person who compiled the list.
Ask to see their research and proof of invasive threat.
Ascertain what the determining criteria are.
Speak to ICM.
Compile a list of contradicting evidence.
Attend the meeting where the draft is put before the board and present the contradicting evidence.
And if we are a democracy, the board should decide on the appropriate action.
I guess legal assistance would be beneficial at one or more of these stages.

Billions of Dollars are generated out of the illegal pet trade annually(second only to the illegal drug trade supposedly), so I'm sure some of that money would be well spent, fighting to do things the right way.

Good luck.Tie Black
SA Reptiles Member

This has been an ongoing discussion, look at the reply on the South African Reptile forum. We need to take this serious, being prepared is just a plus point. They have to show specific impact studies, not a hypothesis. Show where the information came from to justify the proposals, also who did these studies etc. I have never heard once that they've found an alien tarantula genus in the South African wild and is now threatening our local bio diversity.