Establishing forest pest detection systems in South Pacific countries and Australia

The aim of the project is to reduce the risk of serious damage by exotic pests to the valuable timber resources of Fiji, Vanuatu and Australia by establishing efficient detection systems for target pests in high hazard sites. Symptoms of damage by organisms such as stem borers and fungal canker at low incidence in plantation trees are very difficult to detect using any of the surveillance methods currently available, such that incursions of these types of exotic forest pests are unlikely to be detected sufficiently early to allow eradication. Therefore, surveillance for such pests is best focused on high-risk areas around ports and container facilities to provide a higher level of insurance that new incursions will be detected before they become established in valuable forest areas. Simple and robust technologies involving static trapping systems and sentinel plantings will be developed.

A 47-page field guide ("Forest health guide: symptoms of insect and fungal damage on trees") to aid in the identification of pest and disease damage symptoms was developed by the Australian project participants in cooperation with the Fiji and Vanuatu collaborators and published by the Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries, Queensland, in September 2006. Copies of the guide were delivered to project collaborators at the workshop held in Suva in September/October 2006 where participants were given guidance on its usage. The guide features images and descriptions of generic types of insect and fungal damage, as well as specific information on some of the key agents targeted in this project (e.g. mahogany shoot borer, bark beetles, erythrina gall wasp, and eucalyptus rust). The guide also includes a list of equipment required for field surveys and a copy of the forest heath field form. Copies of the guide are available on request from the project leader.

A three-day project initiation workshop was conducted in Suva, Fiji from 26-28 September 2006 and was attended by seven participants from Australia, six from Fiji, and three from Vanuatu. In addition, SPC supported the attendance of one participant from Samoa, which is not formally part of the current project. Presentations were made by each country on their forest health surveillance programs since 2004 and the results of the Australian surveys in the previous project were presented to highlight the rationale behind the current project. Details of the Australian component of the current project were outlined, participants re-familiarised with general symptoms of tree disorders, and information on the target species/groups and their likely mode of entry, methods for detection, recognition of symptoms, and available literature were presented. Participants were introduced to the types of traps to be used at ports, nurseries and plantations and their field operation. A visit was made to the Port of Suva to demonstrate trap and sentinel plant site selection within a port environment. The workshop concluded with exercises in contingency planning and preparation of country plans.

Following the workshop, Australian collaborators assisted country collaborators in Fiji and Vanuatu in establishing static traps and sentinel plantings at ports, Quarantine approved premises, nurseries and in plantations (mahogany and pine in Fiji, whitewood and pine in Vanuatu), and in carrying out routine forest health surveillance in plantations and nurseries. Sorting and identification of the first set of trap catches will commence in 2007 when these catches are shipped to the Australian collaborators. As part of the Australian component, static traps were established at twenty sites in NE Tasmania in late November 2006 in low, medium and high-rainfall mid-rotation eucalypt plantations, with the first period of trapping completed in December 2006/January 2007. In Queensland, hazard site trapping commenced in February 2006 at five sites around the Port of Brisbane and at Quarantine approved premises in Brisbane, with five panel traps and one delta trap set per site. Lures used in the traps are targeting exotic bark beetles (Ips and Dendroctonus spp.), cerambycids (especially Monochamus and Anoplophora spp.), other general timber pests, and gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar). Trap catches have been assessed fortnightly and a voucher collection is being established of the most common insects trapped in the target groups. No target insects were trapped.

During the past 18 months of the project since the initial workshop in October 2006, country participants have been undertaking static trapping surveys as per the project plans developed at the workshop. Short visits were made to Vanuatu and Fiji in mid-2007 to review progress in undertaking the static trapping surveys and longer visits were made at the end of 2007 to conduct surveys (Vanuatu) and undertake conservation work on insect collections (Fiji). The Australian component of the study investigating trap / lure combinations in mid-rotation pine plantations has been expanded from the original proposal to allow time to refine the static trapping method to better suit use in tropical climates. All the fieldwork for the study investigating trap / lure combinations for wood-borer surveys in mid-rotation eucalypt plantations has been completed and some exploratory analysis has been done.

Static trapping surveys done by country participants have experienced difficulties through a combination of theft / damage, poor preservation of specimens in the traps and personnel changes. Despite this, the surveys have yielded specimens that have been positively identified, one of which was of quarantine significance - the Asian ambrosia beetle (Xylosandrus crassiusculus). To overcome the operational difficulties experienced with the first year of static trapping several changes have been instituted for the second year of the trapping program. The most important change is the incorporation of an additional two visits per country, each of a fortnight duration in 2008 and early 2009. The purpose will be to assist the countries in undertaking a full static trapping cycle each visit and getting the captured returned promptly to Australia for sorting and identification.

The planning for infrastructure improvements in Vanuatu and Fiji has progressed. Designs for laboratory facilities for the Vanuatu Department of Forests and Quarantine Inspection Services have been drawn up and building is scheduled to commence mid-2008. Materials for building maintenance and equipment upgrade for the insect laboratory at Fiji Forest Department have been ordered and work should be again in progress by mid-2008. Importantly this maintenance and equipment upgrade will overcome the problems with humidity in the room housing the insect collection that had resulted in some deterioration in the condition of insects in the collection. A project visit to Fiji in December 2007 cleaned the insect collection to reverse some of the damage to specimens and take steps to prevent further deterioration of the specimens.

There have been a number of personnel changes to the project during the past year. In Vanuatu, Tou'fau Kalsakau was replaced by Presly Dovo in May 2007 as the main VFD representative on the project. Subsequently, Presly was awarded a Darwin Initiative scholarship to do postgraduate study, majoring in entomology at the University of the South Pacific. In January 2008 Anne Marie Sariset took over as the main VFD representative on the project. Regrettably, Atchison Smith Marav, who had been our project representative on Santo, died last year following an accident. This, coupled with the destruction of the forestry offices on Santo from a fire last year was a set back to the project (insect specimens and equipment was lost). In Fiji, quarantine staff have not been undertaking the servicing of the static traps installed at the wharf or container facility as planned. The ongoing servicing of these traps was done by Lusiana Tuvou (FFD), which she did in addition to servicing the traps installed in plantations and nurseries. We have reviewed the value of the static traps installed at the wharf and container facilities on Fiji and decided not to continue trapping at these sites because of low catch rates and difficulties in servicing the traps. Instead, we will focus on trapping in urban areas away from the port and are holding discussions with entomology staff from the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries of the possibility of coordinating the static trapping for forest insects with the fruit fly trapping program they maintain. While quarantine staff will no longer be involved with the static trapping program, their role in at-border forest biosecurity is still vital. However, skill-levels among quarantine staff in the recognition of forest and timber insects in cargo is quite low. To address this we will run a training course on this topic during a visit planned for later in 2008.