Editorial

Abstract

‘A person who is engaged in a given activity is confronted with fellow people’. So begins our report of a session at the Workshop on communication organized by EPPO and others at Oeiras, Portugal last autumn. It is a statement of an obvious truth that we often overlook. With our focus firmly on the pest, plant, host crop, ecosystem or control measure, we forget the most complex, unpredictable and influential organisms in the picture: fellow people. When we ask why they behave the way they do we find ourselves listening to social scientists and communication experts. They speak a different language from applied biologists. Their data sources and methods are different. Those of us working for plant protection organizations may have much to learn from them if we are to communicate effectively and explain to politicians, traders and voters why plant health is important and how they can help to protect it. Recommendations for action may be implemented through legislation or a voluntary code. There is an interesting comparison of these two options in the paper on codes of conduct on invasive plants for the horticulture industry and botanic gardens. Whether a legislative or voluntary route is taken there are benefits from a high level of public understanding to achieve voluntary compliance. People are less likely to smuggle plants between regions, or release invasive species, if they know and care that by doing so they will put gardens, forests and crops at risk. Good communication brings other benefits. The first person to see a new pest outbreak is more likely to be a grower or a member of the public than an official. Only if there is a high level of awareness will that sighting be reported. One paper presented at the Workshop describes how awareness of the threats from exotic longhorned beetles has been raised in the Lombardy region of Italy, contributing to early detection and effective action against those pests. The level of awareness has also been measured. With a known level of awareness it should be possible to assign a level of confidence to the lack of findings in an area so that negative results have value for surveillance. Communication has been part of EPPO's remit since 1951. As part of the developing EPPO strategy for the next 5 years EPPO Council will be considering how best to help member countries in this area of their work. Meanwhile, I hope you will find in the communication papers in this issue something a bit different from usual but of value in helping you to communicate your science to a wider audience. In addition to the papers derived from the communication Workshop, this issue includes three new datasheets on A1 and A2 pests that are recommended for regulation, the revised version of PM 7/98 (2) Specific requirements for laboratories preparing accreditation for a plant pest diagnostic activity which has been one of our most widely consulted Standards in recent years, along with authored papers on a range of topics including new records, new tests developed, the UK plant health risk register and pathways of import for emerging invasive alien plants.