holistic management of emerging forest pests and diseases

In May 2022, EIP-AGRI published the eighth edition of its Agrinnovation magazine - this time placing forests in the spotlight. "It is critical that we preserve our tree populations", Director-General Wolfgang Burtscher says, and to motivate stakeholders to do so, EIP-AGRI decided to tell the stories of some of the inspiring forest health advocates.  Agrinnovation magazine: volume 8 Here is what they had to say about HOMED: In the last few decades, a growing number of...

When HOMED started in 2018, all partners had a clear goal in mind: to develop a comprehensive panel of scientific knowledge and practical solutions for the management of emerging native and non-native pests and pathogens (PnPs). Since then, inspired by the paraphrase of French President Chirac’s exclamation during the 2002 Earth Summit, "How can we sleep, while our forests are burning?", partners have been working tirelessly to achieve that goal.  To make sure their...

A recent article on The Global Plant Council (GPC) recognises the contribution to policy-making the HOMED project has through its collection of policy briefs. The GPC is a coalition of organisations that represents the experts in the plant, crop, agricultural, and environmental sciences globally. The GPC, furthermore, aims to promote plant science across borders and disciplines, supporting those involved in research, education, and training with the overarching objective of increasing...

HOMED’s overarching goal is to develop a comprehensive panel of scientific knowledge and practical solutions for the management of emerging native and non-native pests and pathogens (PnPs) threatening European forests. This comprehensive panel must consider the full pathway of PnPs invasion management – from assessment to control. An important step in this process is the creation of tools for rapid early detection, which allow stakeholders to stop an invasion before it even starts....

On the 28th of April 2022, a dozen participants from all over Europe gathered in Pistoia, Italy – one of the most important areas for nursery plant production – to discuss the HOMED-developed tools for the prevention and detection of tree pathogens. The event, organised by the IEFC (Institut Européen De La Forêt Cultivée), was led by researchers from the Italian National Research Council and was kindly hosted by the Giorgio Tesi Group, one of the biggest...

This press release has been published in EurekAlert! and in AlphaGalileo.  Over the last century, emerging diseases have progressively been recognised by the scientific community as the main threat to forest ecosystems. With increasing international trade and globalisation, the introduction of non-native species into new environments has exacerbated the problems of emerging pests and diseases worldwide. Additionally, other factors, such as climate change, further...

The saying goes that plants grow better if planted on Easter weekend...Whether this hopeful belief is true or not, we wish you a happy Easter and we hope it brings you a fruitful

A new research article, conducted in the context of HOMED and published in the EPPO Bulletin, presents recent records of two ambrosia beetles: Cnestus mutilatus, new for the European part of the EPPO region, and Anisandrus maiche, previously found only in Eastern European EPPO member countries. Both species are considered quarantine pests for the European Union and represent a significant threat given their ability to establish and spread rapidly in new areas thanks to human-mediated transport...

An effective framework for early warning and rapid response is crucial for the successful prevention and mitigation of the impact of biological invasions of tree pathogens. In this context, the IEFC and the Italian National Research Council are organising a demonstration workshop on the 28th of April in Pistoia (northern Italy) to present new prototypes for the prevention and detection of forest pathogens. Researchers will present several tools, amongst which are the portable LAMP and a...

As part of HOMED’s work concerned with prevention and detection of emerging tree pests and diseases, the Royal Horticultural Society and Coventry University have developed a new citizen science project called 'Check a Sweet Chestnut'. Its goal is to empower citizens in the UK to identify and record local sweet chestnut trees, as well as inspect their leaves for signs of the invasive pest Oriental Chestnut Gall Wasp, and report it to the plant health authorities.  To...

A collection of policy briefs calls to action for combating forest pests and pathogens through adopting new surveillance techniques, increasing tree diversity in forests, and fostering collaboration between pathologists and entomologists HOMED's collection of policy briefs Invasive alien pests and pathogens are a challenge posed in front of forest managers in Europe and around the world. Invasions have a profound impact on forest ecosystems and nature’s contributions to...

Green forest foliage, ©Getty Image, public domain This article focuses on a Future Brief published in the Science for Environment Policy newsletter from December 2021, titled "European Forests for biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation". Future Briefs are a series of horizon-scanning policy briefs, which provide an accessible overview of emerging areas of science and technology. The current Brief brings together the latest evidence on the ability of...

Last Friday, 21 January 2022, HOMED held its third online workshop with PhD students and post-doctoral researchers. This edition’s topic was Science communication, the benefits and challenges related to it. Promotional image for HOMED's PhD students and post-doctoral researchers workshops HOMED communication and dissemination partners Pensoft Publishers presented best practices in science communication, along with useful guidelines on how to create impactful visual content....

The team of HOMED wants to wish everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New

  Caliciopsis canker (Caliciopsis pinea) on loblolly pine (Pinus taeda) In addition to the first collection of HOMED practice abstracts published on the European Innovation Partnership for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability (EIP-AGRI) platform, as part of the promotional and dissemination toolset of HOMED, a second batch of four practice abstracts was added to complement the collection with most recent findings of the project, identified as useful for practitioners. The...

A recent research paper published in the open-access academic journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, titled "Forest Health in Italy: Learning From the Xylella Incursion" provides comments and suggestions to fill the gaps and improve the phytosanitary system in Italy based on the examination of the recent outbreak of Xylella fastidiosa in the country. Forested areas in Italy (data from: "National Inventory of Forests and Forest Carbon Pools-INFC") The...

A new HOMED co-funded research was recently published in the open-access journal Neobiota. It examines the results from a survey which aims to study the perception and knowledge of foresters and other stakeholders on the health status of European oak forests affected by oak lace bug (OLB) and to investigate what forest health management measures would be acceptable to these target groups. 2084 people from nine European nations filled out the survey questionnaire: Austria, Croatia, Belgium,...

The European Commission’s news alert service Science For Environment Policy has issued its latest newsletter with an article titled "A new approach for simulating potential impacts of fungal, insect and mammal pests on European forest ecosystems". European Gypsy Moth; source - gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K The researchers created "BITE", (the Biotic disTurbance Engine), which predicts the impacts, and dynamics of pests and pathogens. It...

More than 50 project partners gathered between 13 and 17 September 2021 to mark the successful ending of the third year of the HOMED project. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the third annual meeting of HOMED was also held online. As the four-year project enters its final stage of development, the third HOMED AGM is the last regular annual meeting of the project consortium. Within the five conference days, working group teams of scientists and experts discussed project achievements, research...

The HOMED collection of policy briefs is expanding with yet another research-based recommendation! The third HOMED policy brief is called "Tree Diversity and Forest Resistance to Insect Pests: Prospects for Forest Pest Management". It is based on the article by HOMED researchers Hervé Jactel, Xoaquín Moreira and Bastien Castagneyrol "Tree Diversity and Forest Resistance to Insect Pests: Patterns, Mechanisms and Prospects" which was...