Invasive alien species are a major driver of global environmental change and a range of management interventions are needed to manage their effects on biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being and local livelihoods. Stakeholder engagement is widely advocated to integrate diverse knowledge and perspectives in the management of invasive species and to deal with potential conflicts of interest. We reviewed the literature in the ISI Web of Science on stakeholder engagement (the process of involving stakeholders (actors) in decision making, management actions and knowledge creation) in invasion science to assess and understand what has been done (looking at approaches and methodologies used, stakeholders involved, and outcomes from engagement) and to make recommendations for future work. Research on stakeholder engagement in invasion science has increased over the last decade, helping to improve scientific knowledge and contributing towards policy formulation and co-implementation of management. However, many challenges remain and engagement could be made more effective. For example, most studies engage only one stakeholder group passively using questionnaires, primarily for assessing local knowledge and perceptions. Although useful for management and policy planning, these stakeholders are not active participants and there is no two-way flow of knowledge. To make stakeholder involvement more useful, we encourage more integrative and collaborative engagement to (1) improve co-design, co-creation and co-implementation of research and management actions; (2) promote social learning and provide feedback to stakeholders; (3) enhance collaboration and partnerships beyond the natural sciences and academia (interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration); and (4) discuss some practical and policy suggestions for improving stakeholder engagement in invasion science research and management. This will help facilitate different stakeholders to work better together, allowing problems associated with biological invasions to be tackled more holistically and successfully.

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Background: Lists are fundamental for guiding policy and management of biological invasions. The process of developing regulatory lists of alien and invasive taxa should be based on scientific evidence through an objective, transparent and consistent process.Objectives: In this study, we review the development of the lists for the alien and invasive species regulations in terms of section 97(1) of the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act, 2004 (NEM:BA) (Act No. 10 of 2004).Method: Lists published in the National Government Gazette were compared and assessed for changes in the taxa listed and their status between 2009 and 2016. Minutes from expert workshops convened to inform the listing were reviewed. Relevant information such as the criteria for listing taxa was extracted from minutes of the workshops.Results: Three draft versions were produced and published in the Government Gazette for public comment before the final list was published in August 2014 and promulgated in October 2014. The list is to be reviewed regularly and additional species can be added, and the status of species can be changed as additional evidence of threat levels is available – and was even amended in May 2015. The various stakeholders involved in the listing process were academics, conservation experts, managers and the general public through an inclusive process which included participation workshops or through public comment. A scoring tool based on the likelihood of invasion versus the impact of invasion was recommended for evaluating the risk of a species, but was rarely used. A number of issues relating to conflicts and approaches for listing were faced during development of lists.Conclusion: We conclude with some recommendations for future refinements in the listing process, including improving transparency and participation as well as developing standardised approaches for listing.