News published: 3 July 2026

On June 29th, the IPSN held its online UK Members Summer Meeting, bringing together members and partners from across the UK to share project outcomes, explore new initiatives, and discuss priorities for the year ahead.

A total of 22 participants from 13 organisations joined the Monday afternoon meeting. Topics discussed included the outcomes of the 2025–2026 IPSN Small Grants programme, updates on IPSN resources and activities, and the launch of new initiatives inviting botanic gardens and arboreta to participate in plant health and biosecurity efforts. The meeting concluded with a conversation on future priorities for the network.

 

 

The IPSN’s Small Grants project leads share their findings

 

Two recipients of the 2025–2026 IPSN Small Grants presented findings from projects completed over the past six months:

• Developing practical soil surveillance for Phytophthora – Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Led by Joanne Taylor, Amanda Jones, and Matthew Elliott, this project evaluated available methods for detecting Phytophthora in soil, assessing their effectiveness, cost suitability for use in botanic gardens. The group’s project outputs include leaflets and an easy-to-follow protocol for detecting Phytophthora in garden soils using pear and leaf baiting techniques. 

• Monitoring emerging conifer dieback – Forest Research 

Caroline Gorton shared progress on her project, which explored methods for visually assessing conifer dieback, primarily caused by the fungus Pestalotiopsis. Outputs from the project will include a photographic guide to help classify bottom-up and inside-out dieback symptoms, enabling consistent assessment of the disease impact and progression over time. 

 

New IPSN resources to support plant health 

 

The IPSN team presented a range of new resources developed during the past year to support plant health and biosecurity across the network, including: 

• Pest and disease posters, factsheets, and awareness materials.
• New and updated sampling and monitoring protocols for Holm oak, Canker Stain of Plane, and Hawthorn.
• Technical guides for submitting photographs (accessible in both English and French) and diagnostic samples.
• Technical manuals to support the identification of harmful organisms in living collections (only available in Spanish).
• Educational outreach resources on biosecurity, the role of botanic gardens in global plant health, and the impacts of Xylella fastidiosa (only available in Spanish).
• The IPSN blog series, which features plant health and biosecurity case studies from members and partners.

The meeting also provided an update on activities planned for the coming year. Although the IPSN Small Grants programme and the UK Garden Sentinel Network (UKGSN)—which brought together volunteers and students in plant health surveillance across botanic gardens—will pause next year due to funding constraints, the IPSN will continue to expand its plant health resources, support surveillance activities in the UK and internationally, and advance research and development projects, including incorporating trapping data into the electronic Plant Health Checker and developing a user-friendly Biosecurity Pathway Risk Analysis (BPRA) tool. 

 

New opportunities for botanic gardens and arboreta 

 

A key focus of the meeting was the launch of three new initiatives that provide opportunities for botanic gardens and arboreta to contribute to plant health surveillance and improve biosecurity practices. These include: 

• Hawthorn surveillance 

A collaborative initiative between Forest Research, The Tree Council, Fera, and the IPSN, aiming at improving our understanding of hawthorn health, hedgerow resilience, and pest and disease impacts to the wider treescape.  

The initiative focuses on surveying hawthorn species (Crataegus spp.) across the UK for two priority diseases: fireblight and rust diseases caused by Gymnosporangium species. Botanic gardens and arboreta are encouraged to conduct visual inspections of hawthorn in living collections and, where symptoms are observed, collect samples using an available step-by-step survey and sampling protocol. 

• Beech baseline survey 

This new one-year survey invites UK botanic gardens and arboreta to inspect beech (Fagus spp.) in their living collections for Beech Leaf Disease, Petrakia leaf spot, beech scale, and woolly beech aphid. Participating gardens will receive a detailed survey protocol, step-by-step guidance, and identification resources to support monitoring and reporting. 

The survey will improve our understanding of the distribution and impacts of these pests and diseases, support early detection, provide information on the health of UK beech collections, and inform future biosecurity preparedness and response at a national level. 

 

• Biosecurity Pathway Risk Analysis (BPRA) tool 

Building on previous work, this initiative will improve the BPRA tool, helping horticultural organisations identify, assess, and reduce the risk of introducing and spreading plant pests and diseases through effective pathway management. The tool will be redesigned to be more accessible and user-friendly, with simplified workflows, improved data visualisation, and supporting guidance materials. 

Botanic gardens are invited to participate in the co-development and pilot phase by testing the tool, reviewing guidance materials, and providing feedback. 

Future priorities and next steps 

 

The meeting concluded with a discussion of future priorities for the network. Members highlighted the need for additional training on glasshouse pests and diseases, translation of the available educational and awareness-raising resources, increased use of national collections for surveillance, and continued engagement of volunteers to strengthen plant health monitoring across botanic gardens. 

Planning is already underway for the next IPSN UK Members Meeting, which will take place in person in early autumn. In response to members’ feedback, we are planning to include a dedicated training session, alongside updates on the latest developments in plant health and biosecurity. 

To stay informed about upcoming activities, new resources, and opportunities to get involved, follow the IPSN on social media (Buesky, X, and LinkedIn) and keep an eye out for future communications. 

 

Want to join the IPSN?  

 

Membership is free! By joining, you gain access to expert-led initiatives, resources on biosecurity and plant health monitoring, and a global network of professionals.  

To get involved, email: lara.salido@bgci.org or itxaso.quintana@bgci.org.