Year 1 (01/07/2002-30/06/2003)
Damage from pests and diseases is a major cause of loss of forest productivity in both natural forests and plantations. Forest Health Surveillance (FHS) systems provide a mechanism to protect the substantial investment in plantations and other managed forests through early detection of pest and disease problems, both indigenous and exotic. The underlying principle is that early detection of a pest problem allows more scope for its management. South Pacific nations have limited capacity and experience in regard to forest health and forestry quarantine issues. This project aims to address that need, providing training in surveillance methodologies and recognition of symptoms of tree disorder, determining priority forest pests and diseases and establishing a support network of relevant experts.
The project commenced in November 2002 with a workshop of Australian participants to develop surveillance methodology that is appropriate for use in the Pacific and a simple and operationally easy recording form. The methodology that was adopted is a modification of that used by FHS units in Queensland and Tasmania for plantation and woodlot survey and for surveillance of port surrounds. A Pacific Forest Health Field Form was also developed for use by project personnel during forest surveys in each country. This was designed to be compatible with the existing SPC Pest List Database (PLD) for the Pacific that will be used to store data collected during this project. It includes some additional forestry-specific fields that have now been accommodated in the PLD.
At a training workshop held for all project collaborators in Suva 31 March to 3 April 2003, the draft methodology was discussed and refined. Group field surveys were then conducted and training provided in FHS techniques, including the use of Global Positioning Satellite equipment, recognition of symptoms of tree disorder, specimen collecting, data recording and entry. Participants were also given an introduction to insect taxonomy and the identification of types of insect and fungal damage to trees. Instruction was provided in methods of specimen handling, curating, shipping and housing. Priorities were formulated for purchase of equipment that is to be used in the setting up of a small, forest health facility in each country. Collecting equipment, reference literature and insect identification keys were distributed to participants for use in each country.
After the April workshop, pest and disease surveys commenced in Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, and Tonga. These were carried out by teams comprising Australian FHS specialists and staff from the collaborating country organisations plus, on some surveys, a taxonomist. For each country, the surveys were conducted across a range of plantation tree species, provenances, ages, geographic locations, site conditions and time of year using standardised data collecting methods. Further joint surveys were carried out later in 2003. Also post-workshop, Australian taxonomists inspected insect reference collections associated with forestry, agriculture or quarantine in each country with the aim of assessing capacity and needs. Aspects assessed included the size and condition of the collections, housing, databasing/ cataloguing, equipment, staffing, and taxonomic support. A report has been prepared.
Preliminary work has been undertaken in the design of rapid assessment methodology for small woodlots, and field testing began in early 2004. A project web page is under development, and advisory leaflets are being prepared on two key pests and diseases, the cedar shoot borer Hypsipyla robusta and the fungus Phellinus noxius.

Damage from pests and diseases is a major cause of loss of forest productivity in both natural forests and plantations. Forest Health Surveillance (FHS) systems provide a mechanism to protect the substantial investment in plantations and other managed forests through early detection of pest and disease problems, both indigenous and exotic. The underlying principle is that early detection of a pest problem allows more scope for its management. South Pacific nations have limited capacity and experience in regard to forest health and forestry quarantine issues. This project aims to address that need, providing training in surveillance methodologies and recognition of symptoms of tree disorder, determining priority forest pests and diseases and establishing a support network of relevant experts.
In November 2003, mid-project field surveys were conducted in each country by teams comprising Australian FHS specialists and local project personnel, targeting plantations, community tree plantings and port surrounds. Objectives were to reinforce training provided previously, to further refine the methodology, and to gather data on pest and disease status. Specimens were collected for identification in Australia and data recorded. Independently, local personnel in each country conducted forest health surveys over the past year according to schedules set out in their Country Plan. Equipment and materials were purchased locally and sent from Australia for use in the small Forest Health facilities set up in each country.
In three countries, training sessions on forest health have been organised by local project participants for forestry staff in the regions and for community groups. In Vanuatu, a 2-day training workshop was held in Santo in October 2003 on forest health surveillance. This was attended by 30 staff from the Department of Forestry spanning 5 Provinces (Sanma, Penama, Malampa, Shefa, Tafea), and 6 staff from the Vanuatu Quarantine and Inspection Service. Personnel trained at this workshop will be conducting forest health surveys in nurseries, woodlots, agroforestry plots and around ports in the islands of Santo, Ambae, Malekula, Efate, Tanna, Erromango and Aneityum. In Fiji, project staff provided training to personnel from Fiji Pine and Fiji Hardwoods Corporation on methods of forest health surveillance, and in Samoa, similar training was provided to villagers involved in community forestry projects.
In March-April 2004, project personnel from Queensland and Tasmania undertook forest health surveys in eucalypt plantations in Tasmania (around Launceston and Huon Valley). The purpose was to determine the efficacy of detecting symptoms of pest and disease damage during routine forest health surveillance. Methodologies tested were aerial survey, roadside vehicle cruise, and ground surveys (stepped 'V' transect, plots, 'blitz' survey). Data from these surveys are currently being analysed. This is the first such large-scale testing of the methodology in this country. It will facilitate refinement of survey methodology for the type of smaller woodlot planting that commonly occurs in the Pacific, and increasingly, in Australia with joint-venture farm forestry projects.
A web page for the project has been created and is linked to the SPC site. This contains information about the project, ACIAR, forest pests and diseases in the Pacific, and publications arising from the project including survey reports, Country Plans and instruction manuals. Work is continuing on compiling a list of damaging pests and diseases as surveys are completed and organisms identified.