The mission of the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council is to support the management of invasive exotic plants in Florida's natural areas by providing a forum for the exchange of scientific, educational and technical information.  The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council is a non-profit organization and is not a regulatory agency.

The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FLEPPC) was founded in 1984 to focus attention on the impacts of exotic pest plants:

• on biodiversity,
• on the integrity of native plant community composition and function,
• on natural habitats,
• on endangered species, primarily due to habitat loss and alteration (e.g. Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow), and
• on socioeconomics (e.g. increased wildfire intensity and frequency in Melaleuca quinquenervia), and
• to help prevent habitat loss and alteration by providing comprehensive management plans for exotic pest plants,
• to note changes in the seriousness of exotic pest plants and to indicate which are the worst problems,
• to inform and educate resource managers about species that should be monitored, and
• to help managers set priorities for management.

GOALS

FLEPPC goals are to build public awareness about the serious threat invasive plants pose to native ecosystems, to help secure funding and support for control and management of exotic pest plants, and to develop integrated management and control methods to prevent the spread of exotic pest plants throughout Florida.

WHAT IS AN EXOTIC PEST PLANT?

Exotic - a species introduced to Florida, purposefully or accidentally, from a natural range outside of Florida.
Native - a species whose natural range included Florida at the time of European contact (1500 AD).
Naturalized exotic - an exotic that sustains itself outside cultivation (it is still exotic; it has not "become" native).
Invasive exotic - an exotic that not only has naturalized but is expanding on its own in Florida plant communities.

FACTS

• Approximately 31% of the plant species known to occur in Florida outside cultivation are introduced (non-natives growing on their own). That's 1,300+ exotic species established and reproducing outside cultivation. Of that number, about 10% are considered invasive in natural areas by the FLEPPC (Cat I and Cat II).
• the second greatest threat to the 500+ endangered & threatened plant species in Florida is adverse effects from invasive exotic plants (the greatest threat is direct habitat destruction via population growth, urban sprawl, etc.).

Exotic plants are introduced accidentally through shipping materials or deliberately for ornamental or commercial purposes. Invasive exotics or exotic pest plants don't have the natural enemies here that controlled their growth in their home range. This can free them to spread easily into our native plant communities. Not all exotic plants become pest plants in Florida's natural areas, but those that do can cause a reduction in biodiversity, loss of habitat and food sources for native insects, birds, and other wildlife, and changes to natural ecological systems.