Announcements Are you producing a newsletter, holding a meeting, running an organization or rearing a natural enemy that you want other biocontrol workers to know about? Send us the details and we will announce it in BNI. Chromolaena WorkshopThe 6th International Workshop on Biological Control and Management of Chromolaena odorata will be held at the Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute in Medan and on Samosir Island in Lake Toba, which is some 1000 m above sea level, on 17-21 February 2003. The workshop will continue the tradition of the past five workshops held in Bangkok, Bogor, Abidjan, Bangalore and Durban, of bringing together scientists and others involved in dealing with this weed, but will also consider other weeds. Chromolaena odorata, a neotropical weed which has become a serious problem in West and South Africa, tropical Asia, and Micronesia, invades pastures, vacant lands, roadsides, plantation crops and disturbs forests; it suppresses local fauna, becomes a fire hazard, restricts movement of wildlife and interferes with cultivation. The main part of the workshop will cover taxonomy, ecology, biology and different methods of control of Chromolaena. The second part will cover biological control of other weeds in Indonesia and exploratory work done for natural enemies. Contact: R. Muniappan,
Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Guam, Mangilao, Guam,
96913, USA International Bemisia WorkshopThe 3rd International Bemisia Workshop will be held in Barcelona, Spain on 17-20 March 2003 and will be hosted by the entomology team in the Plant Protection Department of the Institute for Food and Agricultural Research and Technology (IRTA) at Cabrils. The main goal of the meeting will be to provide an opportunity for scientists working on Bemisia tabaci to present and discuss the latest research on this pest and the different approaches for its control. The following topics will be addressed:
Contact: Secretariat, Bemisia
Workshop 2003, Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 454 1º - 08015,
Barcelona, Spain China Hosts Exotic Pest Control MeetingThe International Symposium on Exotic Pests and their Control (ISEPC) will be held at Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, China on 17-20 November 2002. Organized by the State Key Laboratory for Biological Control and the Institute of Entomology, Zhongshan University, the meeting is jointly supported by the Plant Quarantine Association of the Plant Protection Society of China, the Entomological Society of Guangdong Province and the Plant Quarantine Association of the Plant Protection Society of Guangdong Province The lead theme is 'Theories, control strategies and technologies of exotic pests related to plant protection'. Session topics will be: Contact: ISEPC Secretariat,
The State Key Lab for Biocontrol / Institute of Entomology, Zhongshan
University, Xingangxi Road 135#, Guangzhou 510275, China XII World Forestry CongressThe XII World Forestry Congress, 'Forests, Source of Life', will be held in Quebec, Canada on 21-28 September 2003. Jointly organized by the Department of Natural Resources Canada and the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources, in collaboration with the FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization), it will explore innovative ways to address current and emerging issues, including those of a cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary nature. Sessions focusing on people's expectations and the current status and outputs of the world's forests will be complemented with sessions on identifying how to improve management, institutions and policies, and on ecoregional assessments of forest and tree management in terms of sustainable development. A first call for voluntary papers and posters has been announced - see the website for a wealth of detail on programme plans and other information. Contact: Secretariat, 2003
World Forestry Congress, 800 Place d'Youville, 18th Floor, Québec,
Canada G1R 3P4 EPPO Standards On-lineAll EPPO (European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization) Standards are now available on the EPPO website (except the EPPO Guidelines on Efficacy Evaluation of Plant Protection Products) at: www.eppo.org/Standards/standards.html EPPO Standards are the result of work undertaken by different technical bodies of the organization, and act as recommendations to the national plant protection organizations of its member countries. They are Regional Standards in the sense of the revised IPPC (International Plant Protection Convention). There are Standards in two main fields of EPPO activity: plant protection products and phytosanitary measures. Of particular interest to BNI's readership are three concerned with safe use of biological control (PM6):
The first two Standards provide guidelines to national authorities in the EPPO region on the introduction and release of exotic biological control agents, so as to identify and avoid hazards for agricultural and natural ecosystems. They are intended for use in relation to future introductions, and not retrospectively. The third Standard derives from the extensive existing knowledge of and previous experience with the use of introduced biological control agents in countries of the EPPO region. It has two parts: the first for commercially available organisms is available; the second, which deals with successfully introduced classical biological control agents, is in preparation. The IPPC ISPMs (International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures) are also now available on the website, and the latest files of phytosanitary regulations can be downloaded monthly. Contact: EPPO, 1 Rue Le Nôtre, IOBC Fruit IPM GuidelinesThe IOBC Commission on
Integrated Production (IP) Guidelines and Endorsement has approved in
April 2002 the 3rd edition of the Guideline for the Integrated
Production of Pome Fruits as well as the new Guideline on Integrated
Production of Olives. The English texts of these documents can be
downloaded directly from the Website of the Commission at: Printed versions of the documents as IOBC Bulletins (with translations into major languages) are in preparation. Contact: Dr Ernst F. Boller,
IOBC Commission IP Guidelines & Endorsement, c/Swiss Federal
Research Station for Fruit Growing, Viticulture & Horticulture,
CH-8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland IOBC Water Hyacinth Meeting DelayedThe next and 3rd meeting of the IOBC Global Working Group on Biological and Integrated Control of Water Hyacinth, which was scheduled to be held this August in Kampala, Uganda has been postponed until August 2003. This is to give people time to find funding to attend. Organizers urge would-be participants to start to look for funding now. (If you have already registered interest, the organizers will be in contact shortly.) Contact: James Ogwang,
Biological Control Unit, Namulonge Agricultural and Animal Production
Research Institute, |
