The RIPARIAS target species list is a species checklist dataset published by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO). It contains (1) the target species of the LIFE RIPARIAS project (LIFE19 NAT/BE/000953), all of them invasive alien species (IAS) of the Regulation (EU) 1143/2014 (https://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/invasivealien/) and (2) the alert list species that currently do not occur in the LIFE RIPARIAS project area, but have proven to have negative impacts on biodiversity and need to be rapidly removed should they be encountered. The alert list was drafted within the LIFE RIPARIAS project following an evidence-based methodology involving climate matching and risk assessment (Branquart et al. 2022). By publishing this list on GBIF it can be used for general reference, early warning systems, data extractions, baseline reporting, project KPIs etc. Issues with the dataset can be reported at: https://github.com/riparias/riparias-target-list We have released this dataset to the public domain under a Creative Commons Zero waiver. We would appreciate it if you follow the INBO norms for data use (https://www.inbo.be/en/norms-data-use) when using the data. If you have any questions regarding this dataset, don't hesitate to contact us via the contact information provided in the metadata or via opendata@inbo.be. This dataset was published as open data for the LIFE RIPARIAS project (Reaching Integrated and Prompt Action in Response to Invasive Alien Species https://www.riparias.be/), with technical support provided by the Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO).