The Hawaii Invasive Species Council is allocating more than $2.5 million for dozens of projects during the current fiscal year, including efforts to eradicate axis deer on the Big Island and detect mongoose on Kauai.

Coordinator Josh Atwood said in a statement Wednesday the council’s priority has been to balance responding to new threats while maintaining detection and response capacity.

The council was created in 2003 when the Legislature declared invasive species "the single greatest threat to Hawaii’s economy and natural environment and to the health and lifestyle of Hawaii’s people."

But the council has less than half the money to fight alien pests than it received nearly a decade ago. The council’s budget was $4 million in fiscal 2005.