Pesticides Alternatives

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It is part of FSC’s Pest Management Policy to support derogation holders to phase out the use of highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs). To do so, FSC has implemented a database in which interested stakeholders will find alternative strategies/practices/products that have previously been implemented by forest managers. These alternatives have been selected following the 3R principle: Reduction, Replacement, Removal with the ultimate objective of abandoning the use of HHPs.

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    Publication Year: 2014
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    Subject Keywords: Pesticides Chemicals
    Regions: Northern Europe, Europe
    Countries: United Kingdom
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    Alternative Strategy: The adoption by the Forestry Commission in the 1960s of the non-pathogenic wood-rotting fungus Phlebiopsis (previously Peniophora) gigantea, now used under the name 'PG Suspension', for the treatment of pine stumps to prevent colonisation by Heterobasidion annosum, was a pioneering move that has been followed by other countries
    Alternative Method: Reduction
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    Alternative Trial: No
    Alternative Type: Specific strategy - Biocontrol
    Pest Type: Fungus
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    Subject Keywords: Pesticides Chemicals
    Regions: Northern Europe, Europe
    Countries: United Kingdom
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    Alternative Strategy: Behaviour-modifying chemicals – particularly sex attractant pheromones, bark beetle attractants and host tree volatiles – can be used both to monitor pest populations and to prevent or divert attacks.Bark beetles, especially in the genus Ips, produce attractant chemicals, derived partially from thehost tree itself, to alert other beetles to the presence of suitable host material. These chemicalshave been identified and synthesised and many are available commercially. Ips typographus, theEuropean eight-toothed spruce bark beetle, is potentially one of the most dangerous pests ofspruce in Europe and is not yet present in Britain. Pheromone traps, baited with the I. typographusattractant, have been deployed at ports and wood processing yards for a number of years and haveallowed plant health inspectors to respond to infringements of import regulations. Other possibleuses of pheromones are to disrupt successful mating through saturation of the atmosphere so thatmales are unable to locate females within the general pheromone atmosphere. Alternativetechniques, such as target technology, can be used to attract pests to a source impregnated withinsecticides or microbial agents so that the pests can be killed without broadcast sprays of insecticide.
    Alternative Method: Reduction
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    Alternative Trial: No
    Alternative Type: Specific strategy
    Pest Type: Insect
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    Author(s):
    Publication Year: 2014
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    Subject Keywords: Pesticides Chemicals
    Regions: Northern Europe, Europe
    Countries: United Kingdom
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    Alternative Strategy: Mixtures can be used to provide an insurance when the risk of disease is not clear, e.g. it is recommended that wild cherry (Prunus avium) forms no more than 10% of any new or restocked woodland because of the risk of it succumbing to bacterial canker (Pseudomonas syringae pv.Morsprunorum). In some situations mixtures can effectively delay or reduce the build-up of a pest within a plantation, for example the use of a mixed beech/conifer plantation can reduce the impact of beech bark disease. However, it must be recognised that there are some disadvantages to mixtures in terms of ease of management and productivity.
    Alternative Method: Reduction
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    Alternative Trial: No
    Alternative Type: Specific strategy
    Pest Type: Disease
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    Subject Keywords: Pesticides Chemicals
    Regions: Northern Europe, Europe
    Countries: United Kingdom
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    Alternative Strategy: Use of pathogenic organisms, such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, both directly within spray programmes and indirectly by manipulating populations of the pathogen, can result in regulation of pest populations with little or no impact on non-target organisms. There are few examples of microbial pesticides currently approved for use in British forestry. However, the bacterial agent Bacillus thuringiensis has been used successfully against many of the most serious lepidopteran defoliators globally. Particular success has been achieved against spruce budworm in North America and against gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) and nun moth (Lymantria monacha) in western and central Europe. Viral agents offer the highest levels of specificity and are often instrumental in the natural decline of populations of forest insects, many of which are pests. The potential use of baculoviruses against pine beauty moth (Panolis flammea) is described under the specific examples section (page 31). Successful control of European pine sawfly (Neodiprion sertifer) in young pine plantations was achieved with its specific baculovirus, registered as Virox, but this effective and selective control agent is no longer available since the registration has lapsed, due to the demise of the company distributing the virus.
    Alternative Method: Reduction
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    Alternative Trial: No
    Alternative Type: Specific strategy - Biocontrol
    Pest Type: Insect
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    Subject Keywords: Pesticides Chemicals
    Regions: Northern Europe, Europe
    Countries: United Kingdom
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    Alternative Strategy: Another successful example of biological control has been the rearing and release of the imported predatory beetle Rhizophagus grandis to control the great spruce bark beetle, Dendroctonus micans.
    Alternative Method: Removal
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    Alternative Trial: No
    Alternative Type: Specific strategy - Biocontrol
    Pest Type: Insect
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    Subject Keywords: Pesticides Chemicals
    Regions: Northern Europe, Europe
    Countries: United Kingdom
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    Alternative Strategy: Five repellents that were of low toxicity or derived from foodstuffs were investigated for their ability to deter feeding by wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus L.) and grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis Gmelin). In experiments in controlled conditions, when given the option of feeding on unlimited amounts of untreated wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), or wheat treated with aluminium ammonium sulphate, sulphonated fish oil, denatonium benzoate, ziram or capsaicin, all the repellents tested initially deterred feeding, although in one experiment mice showed some habituation to the repellents after 4 weeks. Capsaicin was the most effective treatment, and aluminium ammonium sulphate the least effective, possibly because it did not stick to the wheat grains. When ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) seed were treated with combinations of aluminium ammonium sulphate, sulphonated fish oil or denatonium benzoate, compared to the freely available untreated seed, mice were deterred by any treatment containing aluminium ammonium sulphate, with effectiveness again declining after 4 weeks. When a mixture of broadleaved tree species were sown on farmland, coating seed with aluminium ammonium sulphate or sulphonated fish oil had no effect on seedling emergence. Capsaicin derived from chilli peppers (Capsicum sp.) showed the greatest potential as a repellent in our work, but no repellent product containing this active ingredient is currently approved for plant protection uses in the United Kingdom. Given its relatively low cost, the use of aluminium ammonium sulphate, a non-toxic repellent based on an approved food additive, which is available formulated as a registered plant protection product in the United Kingdom, may be worth considering for direct sowings where predation pressure from mice is predicted to be particularly high, or where tree species with very palatable seed are being used, to complement other predation mitigation strategies.
    Alternative Method: Removal
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    Alternative Trial: No
    Alternative Type: Specific strategy
    Pest Type: Animal