LWEC Collaboration on Tree Health

Steps to protect UK trees from new diseases.

Defra have taken forward the outputs of an LWEC workshop held on 6th May as one of the sources to inform their latest Tree Health and Plant Biosecurity Action Plan published on 18th October 2011.

Trees are an important part of our rural and urban landscapes and preserving their health is especially important as the environment changes. Diseases such as acute oak decline and red pine needle blight have become established in the UK, whilst there are a range of other threats on the horizon. (See 4 page Briefing from the Parliamentary Office of Science and technology attached)

The LWEC workshop on 6 May allowed partners to identify and begin to prioritise evidence and innovation gaps (specific and generic, immediate and long-term) to secure tree health in a changing environment and to consider the overall priority for addressing the top pests and pathogens that threaten trees in Great Britain.

If you want to track progress on this issue, you can download the LWEC workshop presentations, notes and briefing note  together with a report from  Defra's Expert's group July workshop below.