A Coordinated, Risk-Based, National Forest Biosecurity Surveillance Program for Australian Forests

Francisco Tovar,Simon A Lawson,Susie Collins,Helen F Nahrung,Angus J Carnegie

doi:10.3389/ffgc.2021.756885

Abstract

Australia has a comprehensive plant biosecurity system, with the Australian Government responsible for pre-border (e.g., off-shore compliance) and border (e.g., import inspections) activities, while state governments undertake a variety of post-border activities (e.g., post-border surveillance, management of pest incursions, and regulation of pests) designed to reduce alien pest and pathogen arrival and establishment. Once an alien pest or pathogen has established and spread, its management becomes the responsibility of the land manager. There has been a growing understanding among plant industries of the need to be more engaged in post-border biosecurity activities, including resourcing and undertaking early detection surveillance and contingency planning. Here we summarize Australia’s broader plant biosecurity system along with current forest-specific biosecurity surveillance activities. We describe the development of a proposed forest biosecurity partnership between the Australian Government, state governments and the forest sector to establish a post-border, risk-based National Forest Pest Surveillance Program. We outline why there is a recognized need for such a program, how it would improve biosecurity outcomes in relation to forests, its component activities, and key stakeholders and beneficiaries.

Highlights

Australia has a wide range of forest resources including plantation, amenity and native forests that require protection from exotic biosecurity threats
We describe the development of a proposed forest biosecurity partnership between the Australian Government, state governments and the forest sector to establish a post-border, risk-based National Forest Pest Surveillance Program
More than one third of alien pests detected in Australia over the past three decades were found through Forest health surveillance (FHS) or surveillance by industry staff (Carnegie and Nahrung, 2019; Trollip et al, 2021), highlighting the benefits of FHS in an overall forest biosecurity program

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Australia has a wide range of forest resources including plantation, amenity and native forests that require protection from exotic biosecurity threats. More than one third of alien pests detected in Australia over the past three decades were found through FHS or surveillance by industry staff (Carnegie and Nahrung, 2019; Trollip et al, 2021), highlighting the benefits of FHS in an overall forest biosecurity program Despite these efforts to bolster post-border surveillance for alien forest pests, the approach remains ad hoc, and is not coordinated nationally or well-integrated with national or state biosecurity activities (Carnegie et al, 2017, 2018a; Tovar et al, 2017; Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, 2018a,b). It is recognized by government and industry that there is a need for a structured national forest pest surveillance program for early detection of alien forest pests

A National Forest Pest Surveillance Program

Findings

CONCLUSION