In year one, the most significant achievement was the implementation of high-risk site surveillance (HRSS) in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam (Indonesia contract pending). In each country, traps with lures targeting bark and wood boring insects were set up at airport, train and seaport high risk sites. The first round of trapping is complete and diagnostics on trap catches are progressing. The Lao and Cambodians teams are sorting specimens into morphospecies to familiarise themselves with the different beetle groups as part of their diagnostic development. They are also using the beetles as a training resource for pinning, which is the first step to curating a forest entomology collection in Laos and Cambodia. Partners in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia have progressed to identifying some specimens to species. This contributes to the development of their country’s forestry pest lists. The trap data from each country provides preliminary information to conduct future pathway risk analysis. It has also informed the effectiveness of trap placement allowing for location changes to occur as needed in the coming period. Additionally, the Vietnam team is assessing northern sites in the north to expand HRSS.
The HRSS has contributed to technical capacity building of our partners and increased the understanding and importance of forest biosecurity among other government stakeholders. Officers from agriculture, forestry and plant quarantine departments have been working with project partners on HRSS setup and servicing. We consider their involvement the first step toward developing an integrated and inclusive biosecurity system -the long-term goal of the project. Continued demonstration to governments of forest biosecurity value will be critical to work toward the inclusion of forestry in broader biosecurity strategies and to support the regional forest biosecurity network.
Prior to project commencement, it was understood that each country had different biosecurity capabilities and needs. But based on the ability to process the trap catches (collection, counts and sorting), each country has different capacity requirements to meet their development needs. This insight means that training and capacity building in surveillance, diagnostics and pest reporting must be tailored within the context of country resources and capabilities (rather than the planned one-size-fits-all all approach). This is most important for Laos and Cambodia where capacity (skill and resources) is much lower than originally thought. Another insight is that gender in biosecurity has not been considered by most partners. This requires attention to improve understanding of gender issues for partners and the impact this may have on project outcomes and forest biosecurity more broadly.
Alongside training activities, the project will focus on establishing links to other groups (e.g., ASEAN Regional Diagnostic Network) to provide regional support in on-going training and capacity building. Attendance at the Bark and Ambrosia Beetle Academy (2024) will support diagnostic capacity. While partner visits (e.g., Lao team to Vietnam) in late 2023 and early 2024 will provide local on-ground training in diagnostics and forest health surveillance.
Key project achievements: • HRSS set up in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam at four to five sites each, 30 people receiving direct training (on-training including an additional ~30 people) • Increased outreach and understanding of the value of forest biosecurity amongst the regional forestry and biosecurity community • Workshop with over 30 attendees from Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 8-12, 2023) • Regional Women in Biosecurity group established • Two publications • Economic modelling and case studies drafted • All project partners working toward capacity development in diagnostics and pest list development.
Recommendations: Refocus activities to develop the capacity of the Lao and Cambodian teams in diagnostics and forest health surveillance. This includes reassessing the current budget.