Development of an online, user friendly plant health resource bank for the Natural Environment

Project Lead: Katherine Hayden
Project Date: 1 November 2018 to 29 March 2019
Reference Number:
PHC2018/11
Scottish Scenery Isle of Arran
Plant health issues for the natural environment are poorly characterised compared to other sectors. This is compounded by the lack of established conferences / knowledge exchange events targeted at this sector. A key issue identified by stakeholders was lack of accessible information / authoritative summaries of key plant health threats to native biodiversity and natural ecosystems.
The aim of this commission is to establish the template and initial population of a curated online resource bank for plant health threats to the natural environment in Scotland. This will include assembly of, or signposting to, available existing resources. Where applicable, it will also include authoritative distillations of the key issues targeted at non-specialists. Where there are conflicting sources of advice/recommendations, the scope is not to achieve reconciliation of these issues, but rather to simply note that different perspectives exist. The content will be housed on the Plant Health Centre website (https://www.planthealthcentre.scot/).

Impact: Increasing the accessibility of information for land managers with responsibility for the natural environment, but a lack of specialist expertise in plant health
Publication Type (field_publication_type)

Expansion of PHC Online Plant Health Resources

May 2020

This project has expanded the PHC online Resource Bank for plant health threats to the Natural Environment sector in Scotland to include information sources for the remaining three sectors (Forestry, Agriculture and Horticulture). Information sources for Forestry, Agriculture and Horticulture were compiled and evaluated, and a Knowledge Bank relevant to each sector is now online at the PHC website, creating a comprehensive and unique signposting resource for plant health information with relevance to Scotland.

 

Forestry, Environment | Final Report and Policy Document

Development of an online, user friendly plant health resource bank for the Scottish Natural Environment

August 2019

The aim of the project PHC2018/11 was to compile a resource to be embedded within the Scottish Plant Health Centre (PHC) website, with the following three main purposes: 1) To direct users to existing, comprehensive and reliable plant health information resources; 2) To provide information on selected plant health threats to the natural environment, particularly invasive non-native species; and 3) To direct users to appropriate government agencies and resources and advise users on steps to take should a suspected statutory pest or disease be encountered.

Webpages have been developed which provide the following:

1) a listing of the first most pressing plant health threats to the natural environment in Scotland;

2) a user-friendly web template, populated with links to information about these major threats and other topics relevant to plant health in the Scottish natural environment; and

3) summary pages providing guidance on biosecurity and control of diseases in this sector, for which other resources were not easily available.

Position:
Institution: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Position:
Institution: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh