CABI partners with local universities to engage youth on parthenium weed in Pakistan

CABI recently organized a two-day training and planning workshop for its university partners on “Awareness and Management of Parthenium” in Islamabad. The workshop was attended by key stakeholders and post-graduate students of partner universities such as the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi and University of Sargodha.
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New Pest Risk Analysis Tool to improve biosecurity in international trade of plant commodities

Colorado beetle eats potato leaves. Pests destroy a crop in the field. Parasites in wildlife and agriculture. Asia Pacific Regional Consultation 2018 China
CABI has launched a new product to help facilitate and improve the biosecurity of plants and plant products being traded around the world that are at risk of invasive pests such as the Colorado beetle – a major threat to potato crops.
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CABI engage rural support programme in its efforts to manage invasive parthenium

Signing ceremony of MoU by Niaz Hussain, Regional General manager PRSP Multan Region and Dr Kauser Khan from CABI.
Invasive alien species are one of the major threats to biodiversity, also having negative impacts on crop production, human, and animal health. Invasive alien plants are creating huge problem in Pakistan affecting natural and semi-natural ecosystems causing considerable cost to the economy and environment. Comprehensive efforts are required to deal with this issue to prevent…
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UAV spraying: combating the spread of fall armyworm across China

Fall armyworm (FAW) has continued to spread across China since early January, with the pest being identified in over 600,000 hectares of farmland across 18 provinces. Now, the government and farmers are looking for solutions to tackling this invasive species. Fall armyworm in an incredibly destructive pest species native to the tropics and sub-tropics of…
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A Plague of Cactus

CABI's Dr Arne Witt with a Masai man in Laikipia, Kenya, an area severely affected by invasive Opuntia.
By Susan Moran. Reblogged from bioGraphic. Across Kenya’s wildlife-rich Laikipia Plateau, a thorny enemy is advancing. But a tiny sap-sucking insect may help save the region’s animals and people. Before the sun has peeked above the horizon, Philip Nangoo Larpei, a Maasai elder in his 60s or 70s (he hasn’t kept track), is already outside checking…
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Shedding light on the biodiversity impacts of the tomato leafminer

The ecological effects of a widespread crop pest The tomato leafminer Tuta absoluta is one of the most widespread and impactful invasive crop pests in the world. First reported in Peru in 1914, the tomato leafminer is now recorded throughout South America, Africa and Europe and is estimated to infest 60% of all cultivated tomatoes worldwide. Recent studies…
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Invasive tadpoles can recognise potential predators in new environments

By Natasha Kruger. Reblogged from The Conversation. Invasive species have become an increasingly big threat to indigenous ones as the spread of alien animals and plants has accelerated with the growth of global trade. Some can be very destructive, while some live in close proximity without posing any sort of threat. Understanding the behaviour of invasive…
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CABI leads regional workshop on Pest Risk Analysis tool in Bangladesh

Workshop participants and CABI facilitators pose for a group photo in two rows.
Plant quarantine experts on Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) from four countries in South Asia joined together in Bangladesh last week (4th -5th September) for a workshop led by CABI on the new Pest Risk Analysis (PRA) decision support tool and workflow. The PRA tool workshop, which was made possible through CABI’s Action on Invasives programme,…
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Invasive species aren’t just a ‘first world problem’

By Jim Erickson-Michigan. Reblogged from Futurity. Invasions from alien plants, animals, and pathogens threaten the economies of the world’s poorest nations, according to study. One-sixth of the global land surface is highly vulnerable to invasion, including substantial areas in developing countries and biodiversity hotspots, according to the study published in Nature Communications.
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Invading Ireland: the coypu

Coypu on a riverbank
By Dr Colin Lawton, National University of Ireland Galway One of the greatest threats to biodiversity is the invasion of alien species into an ecosystem.  These can occur through natural migrations as a result of recent habitat or climate change, or species can be introduced by human activities, both accidentally or deliberately.  Invasions are occurring…
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