Intercept dangerous pests at their point of entry

To detect dangerous forest pests at an early stage, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL has developed a new monitoring strategy together with the federal government. To this end, trees in various Swiss towns and cities are being analysed for particularly dangerous organisms. From 2025, this monitoring will be carried out throughout Switzerland.

• The WSL, together with the FOEN, has successfully developed a strategy to detect particularly dangerous tree pests and diseases at an early stage.
• Following a two-year trial period, Switzerland will be monitored nationwide for non-native pests.
• In 75 areas in a total of 16 cantons, forest protection officers check trees for disease symptoms and check insect and fungus traps.

Beetles crawling out of packaging material or fungal spores in garden soil: With an increase in international trade and travel, more and more tree pests and diseases are being introduced into Switzerland. Some can pose a serious threat to native nature and cause major economic damage. They are therefore subject to mandatory reporting and control. These so-called quarantine organisms are already subject to import bans and controls at borders and at importers.

The species being sought include insects such as the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), the citrus longhorned beetle (Anoplophora chinensis) and the Siberian moth (Dendrolimus sibiricus), as well as fungi and a nematode worm. So far, the monitoring has not revealed any of these eight species, but other exotic species such as longhorned and ambrosia beetles from Asia have been trapped during the test phase. This shows that the monitoring works for the early detection of introduced pests.

Therefore, territory surveillance was extended to the whole of Switzerland starting in 2025 and now takes place in a total of 75 monitoring areas in 16 cantons, for example in cities such as Basel, Bern, Geneva and Zurich. Every year, the SPPD reports the results of territory surveillance to the European Union, as these pests are a Europe-wide problem.

"Territory surveillance is only one part of the monitoring of particularly dangerous organisms in Switzerland," says Valentin Queloz, Head of Swiss Forest Protection. "It is important that professional groups in the forest and in the green sector are informed about the topic and can recognise such organisms and their symptoms. The WSL develops specific factsheets for them." (The Green industry includes greenhouse production, nursery production and landscape service.)