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A National Plan to Keep Invaders Out

 

"Just like it is cheaper to make sneakers overseas, it is cheaper to grow plants overseas and import them."


— Frank Lowenstein, Director, Forest Health Program

Go Deeper

The Nature Conservancy's Forest Health Program
The Nature Conservancy established the Forest Health Program in 2006 to tackle the threats posed by invasive forest insects and disease to North American forests.

The Nature Conservancy's Global Invasive Species Initiative
aims to abate the threat to Earth’s diversity posed by invasive plants, animals, and diseases through a combination of prevention, early detection, eradication, restoration, research and outreach.

An Ounce of Prevention
The Nature Conservancy’s report (.pdf)evaluates the current effectiveness of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the agency responsible for overseeing the import of plants into the United States.

Not all species invade us the same way. Sometimes the ones we love the most can be the biggest heartbreakers. The azalea at the local supermarket could be hiding a deadly secret. The dogwood from the depot could have the potential for dire consequences. Even the hydrangea from the fancy nursery could contain a ticking time bomb.

“In 2005, 2.5 billion plants were imported and less than 2 percent were inspected for pests,” says Frank Lowenstein, director of The Nature Conservancy’s Forest Health Program. “Just like it is cheaper to make sneakers overseas, it is cheaper to grow plants overseas and import them.”

With such a small percentage of plants being inspected, the solution seems simple — hire more inspectors for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the United States Department of Agriculture agency responsible for keeping invasives out of the country. Hiring more inspectors, however, would not address two underlying problems — the threat of the unknown and the likelihood that even thorough inspections will fail to identify some pests or diseases inside the plant.

“We’re proposing a much more assertive approach than just asking for increased inspectors,” says Lowenstein. “We’re proposing that we recognize that plant imports under the current lax regulations are risky to our environment. We want APHIS to take assertive steps now to slow the rates of introduction while it works with industry to create a long-term solution.”

To avoid such potential for devastation, The Nature Conservancy has recommended a fivepoint plan that calls for APHIS to:

  1. Publicly adopt a high level of pest protection as a national mandate.
  2. Create a temporary holding category for imported plants and cuttings with exceptions for those forms of plants unlikely to carry insects and diseases.
  3. Create a process that allows reasonably fast decision-making.
  4. Speed up the pest risk analysis process.
  5. Secure more Congressional and other funding sources for risk analysis, prompt regulation updates, improved methods of detection, pest control, and outreach.

To learn more, please read "An Ounce of Prevention," the Conservancy’s detailed report outlining this proposal.

<< Back to Nature New York Spring/Summer 2007


Nature picture credits: Photo © istockphoto / Nancy Kennedy (greenhouse); Photo © Paul Wray, Iowa State University (acorns).