The 2024–25 season of the National Forest Pest Surveillance Program, Forest Watch Australia, has delivered outstanding results, strengthening Australia’s capacity to detect and respond early to exotic forest pests.

Through a combination of expert training, extensive nationwide surveillance and strong public and stakeholder engagement, the program continues to play a critical role in protecting Australia’s forests and tree assets.

This season’s activities demonstrate the value of coordinated, risk-based surveillance in maintaining Australia’s pest-free status while building skills, knowledge and capability across the biosecurity system.

• Expert training in Indonesia: Eight entomologists travelled to Malang, Indonesia, to attend a bark and ambrosia beetle workshop and learn more about the surveillance and diagnostics of these beetles.

• Nationwide surveillance: From Darwin to Hobart, over 200 insect traps were deployed across the country, racking up over 33,000 trap days. Supporting this, more than 7,000 trees were visually assessed for signs of exotic pests. No exotic forest pests were detected through these extensive surveys.
• TREEmendous Biosecurity Blitz: This public engagement campaign encouraged members of the public to inspect their local trees and report anything suspicious via the MyPestGuide Trees
• Stakeholder training: Stakeholder training was delivered by jurisdictions to raise awareness of forest biosecurity, with over 200 people trained in 2024-25.

With all data uploaded to AusPestCheck®, Forest Watch Australia is helping maintain our pest-free status while developing knowledge, skills and capacity within Australia’s biosecurity system

Forest Watch Australia, is a coordinated, risk-based forest pest surveillance program that supports early detection of exotic forest pests, improving the likelihood of successful pest eradication or containment to safeguard Australia’s tree assets for the benefit of all Australians.

More information about Forest Watch Australia including the 2024–25 Program summary can be found on the PHA website: https://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/national-programs/national-forest-pest-surveillance-program/ or on the Forest Watch Australia website: https://forestwatchaustralia.com/