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Challenges to planted forest health in developing economies

  • Forest Invasions
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Abstract

A number of strategies have been proposed to manage the increasing threat of insect pests to non-native plantation forests, but the implementation of these strategies can be especially challenging in developing economies, such as in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. As in other parts of the world, invasions of non-native insect pests in this region are increasing due to increased trade as well as inadequate quarantine regulations and implementation. Some of these invasions result in substantial socio-economic and environmental losses. In addition, new host associations of native insects on the non-native tree hosts continue to occur. Identification of these insect pests is becoming increasingly difficult due to declining taxonomic expertise, and a lack of resources and research capacity hinders the widespread and effective deployment of resistant trees and biological control agents. The necessity to engage with an extremely diverse stakeholder community also complicates implementing management strategies. We propose that a regional strategy is needed for developing regions such as sub-Saharan Africa, where limited resources can be optimized and shared risks managed collectively. This strategy should look beyond the standard recommendations and include the development of an inter-regional phytosanitary agency, exploiting new technologies to identify insect pests, and the use of “citizen science” projects. Local capacity is also needed to develop and test trees for pest tolerance and to deploy biological control agents. Ideally, research and capacity development should, at least initially, be concentrated in centres of excellence to reduce costs and optimize efforts.

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Acknowledgements

Members of the Tree Protection Cooperative Programme (TPCP), the National Research Foundation (NRF) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of South Africa, are acknowledged for their financial support. We thank Donald Chungu (Copperbelt University, Zambia), Tembani Mduduzi (Forest Research Centre, Zimbabwe), Peter Kiwuso (Forest Research Institute, Uganda), Gerald Meke (FRIM, Malawi) and Eston Mutitu (KEFRI, Kenya) for providing information on the occurrence of insect pests in their respective countries.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Entomology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa

    Brett P. Hurley

  2. Department of Genetics, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa

    Bernard Slippers

  3. Forestry Department, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), 00153, Rome, Italy

    Shiroma Sathyapala

  4. Department of Microbiology and Pathology, Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa

    Michael J. Wingfield

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  1. Brett P. Hurley
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Correspondence to Brett P. Hurley.

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Guest Editors: Andrew Liebhold, Eckehard Brockerhoff and Martin Nuñez. Special issue on Biological Invasions in Forests prepared by a task force of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO).

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Hurley, B.P., Slippers, B., Sathyapala, S. et al. Challenges to planted forest health in developing economies. Biol Invasions 19, 3273–3285 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-017-1488-z

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