New portal to combat plant health threats

A new website to improve access to data on plant pests and diseases has been launched by Defra, making it easier for plant health professionals to share and use vital information on plant pests and diseases.

The portal, which was first proposed in 2014’s Plant Biosecurity Strategy for Great Britain,  gives access to a wide range of information about plant health from both government and non-government sources, including charities and academic organisations concerned with protecting plant health, such as the Royal Horticultural Society.

The site is currently still under development and is being launched in beta form to enable users to give feedback to inform further improvements. There are plans to add more data and introduce further refinements to the site’s search functions during this second phase.