Remit of Projects commissioned by Scotland’s Plant Health Centre

The Plant Health Centre has an annual budget for commissioning projects that enhance Scotland’s resilience in the face of threats to arable crops, trees, horticulture and wild plants. Our projects aim to fill knowledge gaps associated with new or emerging plant health threats to Scotland’s plant assets (either from the perspective of the pest/pathogen, or of the host plant/habitat), or with processes and schemes that address plant health risks, and with trade pathways that carry risks. The following outlines some of the areas in which we have a remit to commission projects, and others that we do not.

We commission projects on:

• Pests and pathogens that are of significance to Scotland’s plants and have not yet, or have only recently, entered the country. This includes collating information, filling knowledge gaps on pest/pathogen biology, modelling potential for spread, testing or creating tools for detection.
• Pests and diseases already endemic in Scotland whose impact is likely to worsen in the future (for example because of changing climate, withdrawal of pesticides, changes in land management etc).
• Knowledge gaps around health risks to plant assets (i.e., iconic Scottish plant species or habitat types).
• Assessing and addressing human-mediated pest and disease risks to Scotland’s plant assets, such as plant biosecurity, plant trade, large planting schemes, recreation, and other plant-associated activities.
• Understanding and evaluating how different policies impact on plant health in Scotland, with the potential for policy enhancement and development.
• Knowledge Exchange projects relating to improving Scotland’s plant health.

We do not commission projects on:

• Endemic plant pests and diseases that do not present a growing threat.
• Longer term surveillance programmes.
• Areas of plant health that are already addressed in the Strategic Research Programme (although projects may be complimentary to SRP research), or through levy organisations.
• Abiotic threats to Scotland’s plants, unless as a component of exploring the threat of pests and diseases.
• Invasive plant species.