CABI - Biocontrol News and Information 19(1) March 1998 News

The XI World Forestry Congress held on 13-22 October 1997 in Antalya, Turkey, organized by the Turkish Ministry of Forestry with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), was the largest global forestry meeting ever held with 4417 participants from 149 countries. It attracted broad and active participation and technical inputs from all regions. The chosen theme of the Congress, 'Forestry for Sustainable Development: Towards the XXI Century' provided an opportunity to make a technical response to recent discussions on global forest issues at the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF-4), the fifth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Special Session of the UN General Assembly to review and appraise the agreements of the Rio summit.

At the opening ceremony the DirectorGeneral of FAO, Jacques Diouf, emphasized the critical role of forestry in food security and stressed FAO's commitment to sustainable forestry as an integral part of overall socio-economic development. In the plenary session, David Harcharik (Assistant Director-General, FAO Forestry Department) drew particular attention to the `social-cultural' dimension of sustainable forest management, while Jeff Burley (President of IUFRO) dealt with the need for cross-cutting research in forestry/agroforestry to address new and future challenges. This opening plenary session, which identified main issues in contemporary global forestry and analysed trends and need for change in the sector, was also addressed by Jag Maini (Head of the Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests), Ola Ullsten (Co-President of the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development) and David Bills who presented the conclusions and recommendations of the 15th Commonwealth Forestry Conference held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

The technical programme of the Congress was structured into seven main programme areas: forest and tree resources; forests biological diversity and the maintenance of the national heritage; protective and environmental functions of forests; productive functions of forests; the economic contribution of forestry to sustainable development; social dimensions of this contribution; and policies, institutions and means for sustainable forestry development. An eighth area approached the main theme on an ecoregional basis. The programme was organized into 44 technical sessions covering 38 topics - Topic 5 covered the protection of forests.

The Antalya Declaration, prepared by a working group with representatives of all regions, discussed by the Forestry Policy Committee, and adopted at the closing plenary session of the Congress called for countries to demonstrate increased political will and for forestry professionals to respond to the changing needs and challenges of achieving sustainable forest management.

The session on protecting forests was chaired by Robert Lewis (Director, USDA Forest Service Insect and Disease Research). Invited papers were presented by Sean Murphy (IIBC) and Rene Alfaro (Canadian Forest Service) and there were also 67 voluntary papers. The meeting noted the large areas of natural and man-made forests in many countries and all ecoregions subjected to damage from insects, diseases and competition from exotic species, as well as air-borne pollution and UV B radiation. There was a clear call for an improvement in communication, for improved dialogue between agriculture and forestry sectors, and for co-ordinated regional approaches to problems. Both native and exotic pests were identified to be important. Biological control options were agreed to be environmentally stable for insect and disease problems, but it was agreed that there was a need to record native natural enemies and to develop conservation techniques. Research to underpin control programmes was identified as crucial: for example, to provide a scientific basis for planting schemes.

Contact: FAO, Viale delle Terma di Caracalla, 00100, Rome, Italy. The proceedings of this meeting are published in eight volumes and on CD, available from: T. C. Orman Bakanligi, Dis ili s kiler ve AT Dairesi Baskanligi, Atat ü rk Bulvari 153, 06100 Bakanliklar, Ankara, Turkey.

The 4th International Conference on the Ecology of Invasive Weeds, held in Berlin on 1-4 October 1997 was attended by some 120 people, although the organizers had to restrict papers, posters and delegate numbers.

Considerable attention was paid to the language used to describe alien invaders and their new habitats with the main thrust being towards the Central European style. An increasingly common opinion was aired by Uta Eser from Tubingen: that the scientific literature uses too many emotive words such as `alien', `invader' and `aggressive' and a more neutral term such as `neophyte' is more appropriate. Her provocative, philosophical talk, which would have angered many biocontrol practitioners, was based on very few, non-representative examples but did provide a talking point for the first day.

Other talks revolved around studies distinguished by country rather than invader or ecosystem - the general message was that Europe has been host to many introductions from all over the globe (e.g. Germany's flora contains 78 naturalized species from North America) and while most of these do not cause any problems, others do. Key weeds identified for Europe and discussed at the meeting included Prunus serotina, Robinia pseudoacacia, Mahonia aquifolium, Impatiens glandulifera/parviflora, Hera c leum mantegazzianum, Caulerpa taxifolia, Bunias orientalis and Pinus strobus.

Parthenium Management

The First International Conference on Parthenium Management was held at the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), at Dharwad, India on 6-8 October 1997. After an opening address which highlighted biological control as an environmentally benign, self-sustaining method for management of this increasingly important weed there were four technical sessions.

In the first session, the `global view of parthenium', papers covered the general state of the weed, and research in ecology, distribution, menace and management of parthenium was dis-cussed including the health hazards posed by the weed and prospects for biological control of parthenium weed in India. The other sessions expanded on the areas of biological control, covering management of parthenium using competitive plants, insects and pathogens, and concluded with an overview of extension strategies for weed management. Of particular relevance is the recent controversy surrounding the importation of the Zygogramma beetle into India and this strategy was ably defended in two papers: `Feasibility of biological control of Parthenium hysterophorus L. by Zygogramma bicolorata in the light of the controversy due to its feeding on sunflower' (K. P. Jayanth et al.) and `Feeding potential of freshly emerged Zygogramma bicolorata adults on sunflower and parthenium' (M. Swamiappan et al. ).

In the plenary session, Dr R. S. Paroda (Director General, Indian Council for Agricultural Research) summarized the economic importance of parthenium as an agricultural weed as well as its impact on human health. He stressed the use of biological measures to solve the problem of spread of the weed, the necessity for further research into the biology and ecology of parthenium and the need to educate people on its control. He also strongly endorsed the recommendations of the delegates: that a Parthenium International Network (PAIN) be established and a steering committee be elected; that a database of involved scientists be set up and a monograph of parthenium literature be published; and that an international workshop be held within three years and continued on a regular basis.

Dr V. C. Patil (UAS) is to be congratulated on his efficient organization of the conference. Its undoubted success was due to the commitment of the UAS staff and the support of ICAR management. All principal papers are published in the conference proceedings: Mahadevappa, M.; Patil, V. C. ( eds ) (1997) First International Conference on Parthenium Management. Dharwad, India; University of Agricultural Sciences, 107 pp. A second volume covering the posters and additional papers is promised shortly.

Orthopterists' Society

The Orthopterists' Society International Conference, held on 26-30 October 1997 in Cairns, Australia, was attended by some 75 delegates from 18 countries. As with most entomologists there was extensive interest in sex and drugs and rock 'n roll, i.e. genitalia, endocrinology and acoustic communication. The conference consisted of four symposia - Evolution of Acoustic Communication in Orthoptera, Bio-logical Control of Orthopteran Pests, Orthoptera: Pests or Conservation Subjects, and Orthopteran Biochemistry and Molecular Endocrinology. In addition there were submitted papers in sessions on Acrididae and Nonacridid Orthoptera.

There were papers of special interest concerning biological control and a section on conservation matters in relation to biocontrol. Richard Milner (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation - CSIRO) described the experimental use of Metarhizium to control locusts; the Australian Plague Locust Commission is interested in biological control against species such as the Australian plague locust (Chortoicetes terminifera) and the spur-throated locust (Austracris guttulosa). With the spread of organic beef farming, the use of chemical pesticides is declining. Alan Clift (University of Sydney) described the impact of the `minor' components of natural control, which usually go unnoticed; they are often killed by chemical pesticides, but contribute significantly to control when left undisturbed or when control is by an environmentally benign mechanism.

Posters and presentations from other countries included fungal entomopathogens in Mexico (Ludivina Barrientos-Lozano - Instituto Tecnológico, Ciudad Victoria), Russia (Alexandre V. Latchininsky - University of Wyoming) and the use of Nosema in China (Yu-Hua Yan - China Agricultural University).

Jeffrey Lockwood (University of Wyoming) and Michael Samways (University of Natal) gave presentations on possible environmental concerns associated with biological control. This is an area that has been of great concern to biological control proponents for many years (usually in relation to insufficient funding to allow both a control programme and a subsequent environmental assessment). Sometimes the debate is confrontational between very entrenched positions, but fortunately not in this instance.

The meeting was eclectic, with sections of interest to all participants; whether the symposia were too specialized for a general meeting could be debated but there was a pleasing `Society' feel attached to it.