The importance of networks in forest biosecurity

Rapid and increasing movement of invasive pests, diseases and weeds around the world continues to threaten productivity and sustainability of plantation and native forests globally. Climate change may also locally exacerbate risk of new threats entering and establishing and may also enable range expansion of established invasive species. This taxes the capacity and capability of individual countries to tackle these issues effectively. Low-income countries are most vulnerable and impacted due to their lower ability to invest in capacity and capability, and biosecurity systems and policy more generally. Given that no single country can effectively address these issues on their own, the importance of international collaboration is paramount. Realizing this, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) over the past two decades has established four invasive species networks to enable collaboration, capacity building and training to begin addressing these issues. The work of these four networks, the Asia-Pacific Forest Invasive Species Network (APFISN), Forest Invasive Species Network Africa (FISNA), Near East Network on Forest Health and Invasive Species (NENPHIS) and Forest Invasive Species Network for Europe and Central Asia (REUFIS), will be highlighted and suggestions made on how their function and effectiveness may be improved to address future needs. In addition, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has recently funded a project establishing a forest health and biosecurity network in SE Asia, centered on high-risk site surveillance to underpin better biosecurity practice more generally. Early results from this project will also be highlighted.