The effects of increasing pest immigration
Globalisation has tremendously increased the transport of people and cargo all over the planet. Expansion in global trade of plant material has increased the rate and extent of invasive alien species, plant pests and diseases entering the EU. The threat of such colonisation is likely to increase with global climate change and continued EU expansion. The EU-funded PRATIQUE (Enhancements of pest risk analysis techniques) initiative improved on existing procedures and developed new ones to assess risk and impact and guide action during emergency outbreaks. Researchers addressed three major challenges of pest risk analysis (PRA). These cover collecting sufficient data; assessing risk and analysing management options in reliable ways; and ensuring an efficient, practical and user-friendly PRA process. Researchers delivered a number of improved methods. These included assessment of economic, environmental and social impacts, and a summary of risk taking uncertainty into account. In addition, PRATIQUE delivered enhanced techniques for pathway risk analysis, mapping endangered areas and guiding actions during emergency outbreaks of harmful pests. The researchers tested methods using a variety of major pests and invasive alien species affecting cultivated and uncultivated lands of the EU. The researchers developed a decision-support scheme for PRA that has been adopted by the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). EPPO will take responsibility for maintaining and improving the software. In identifying and integrating key national and international data sets, researchers collected over 800 electronic data sets and information sources. This effort represented the largest effort ever made to collect data sets and information sources needed for carrying out PRAs. PRATIQUE reviewed six techniques for quantitative economic impact assessment, and recommended the use of partial budgeting and partial equilibrium methods. The researchers identified a range of approaches that could be used directly or following adaptation to enhance consistency in the EPPO decision-support scheme for PRA. Increasing invasion by alien species expected with climate change and EU expansion should now have less impact on EU countries and its citizens.
Keywords
Pest immigration, invasive alien species, PRATIQUE, pest risk analysis, EPPO
