Developments in plant biosecurity

The Government has published a risk register that highlights 700 possible threats to Britain’s trees and plants and will be of interest to a range of groups including nurseries and woodland managers.

At the same time, Defra says it is making tree and plant health one of its top priorities and is continuing to tackle tree pests and diseases, including Chalara, by:

• introducing tighter controls on the import of oak, ash, plane and sweet chestnut trees
• allocating £8m for research into diseases that could affect our trees
• planting 250,000 ash saplings to monitor for genetic resistance to Chalara and commissioned research to investigate genetic resistance in a laboratory setting
• investigating 14 products as potential treatments for Chalara

Ministers are currently drafting a new plant biosecurity strategy aimed at safeguarding the future of the UK’s flora and due to be published later in the Spring.