HOMED meets up for an official Kick-Off in France
The kick-off of the HOlistic Management of Emerging forest pests and Diseases (HOMED) project took place on the 22-25 November 2018 in Cestas (France).
Over 50 scientists, experts and stakeholders of 21 partner organisations participated to the Kick Off meeting of this 4-year project, which aims at providing a full set of science-based, innovative practical methods, and tools to assess and control emerging or invasive pests and pathogens threatening EU forests following a holistic and multi-actor approach. Within HOMED, forest health will be considered broadly, including trees not only in forests, but also in nurseries, urban and rural areas owing to the key epidemiological role of these components.
"In the context of worldwide human population growth and associated global change, European forests are facing increasing expectations to sustain human needs and increasing threats to their own health," comments project coordinator Hervé Jactel from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) "Forests must cope with increasing human-related stressors such as climate change, air pollution, and introduction of non-native pests."
The project is organized in 9 work packages and participants discussed about their content and how to reach the set goals. Christophe Orazio and Sarah Yoga (EFIPLANT) and Simo Varis (Headquarters) shall be leading the WP1 (Forest stakeholders engagement in emerging or invasive pests and pathogens risk assessment and management). The meeting was an opportunity for them to better define and coordinate their future actions in HOMED.
More information about the project
Follow updates of the project at homed-project.eu and @ProjectHomed
