Regional cooperation sought in forestry disease control

A proposal by Taiwan that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum should establish a regional network on forestry disease control has been written into a declaration published at a just-concluded APEC meeting, officials of the Council of Agriculture (COA) said.
The proposal was put forward by COA Minister Chen Wu-hsiung at the first APEC forestry ministerial meeting. It suggests that the group of 21 Pacific Rim countries build a platform on which member states can exchange information and data on forestry insect and disease hazards, as part of efforts to prevent forestry degeneration, the officials noted.
The proposed network could also facilitate work to monitor the migration of alien species and establish an early-warning system for possible outbreaks of forestry disease epidemics in the region, they added, noting that Chen’s initiative won the support of the participants and was therefore included in the Beijing Forestry Declaration at the conclusion of the meeting.