Invasive species pose an enormous threat in the Pacific: not only do they strongly affect biodiversity, but they also potentially affect the economic, social, and cultural wellbeing of Pacific peoples. Invasive species can potentially be managed and that their impacts can potentially be avoided, eliminated, or reduced. However, neither the costs nor the numerous benefits of management are well understood in the Pacific.

The Pacific is biologically unique, as its isolated islands provide ideal conditions for the evolution of new species. Thus, Pacific islands have high numbers of "endemic"species - species that are restricted to only one or a few islands and found nowhere else in the world.