Centre plants a positive idea

With the thousands of plant species in Scotland facing up to the 1,000 novel pests and diseases listed on the UK plant health risk register, there has never been a more crucial time to pool resources and bring scientists and stakeholders together to secure the health of the country’s crops and natural flora.

That was the message when experts and stakeholders from across the forestry, horticulture, environment and agriculture sectors marked the opening of a new “virtual” Plant Health Centre for Scotland.

Speaking at the launch – held at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh – the centre’s director, Professor Ian Toth said: “Plant diseases don’t respect borders and cause problems across all plant species, from iconic forest trees to the smallest of wild flowers and taking in ornamentals, 0 Fiona Burnett, Sonia Humphries, Chris Quine, Gerry Sadler, Ian Toth, and Pete Hollingsworth planted a tree in Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens to celebrate the official launch of Scotland’s Plant Health Centre garden plants and all our crop species as they go.”

Funded by the Scottish Government, the Plant Health Centre is an interdisciplinary consortium which brings together the staff and facilities of ten of Scotland’s leading research organisations: Forest Research, the James Hutton Institute, The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), the Universities of Strathclyde, Exeter and Edinburgh, the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, SASA, and Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland.

First launched by rural economy secretary Fergus Ewing MSP, in February, the centre brings together experts and resources allowing a rapid-response, co-ordinated approach to be taken to tackling problems which would previously have been worked on in very different sectors.