About the Plant Surveillance Network
The Plant Surveillance Network Australasia-Pacific (PSNAP) enables members to communicate about plant pest surveillance and acts as a coordination point for surveillance professionals and practitioners to strengthen surveillance capacity and capability across Australia, New Zealand and the nearby region.
The network was formed in 2017 as an initiative of the Subcommittee on National Plant Health Surveillance (SNPHS).
The concept of the Plant Surveillance Network follows the success of the National Plant Biosecurity Diagnostic Network (under the Subcommittee on Plant Health Diagnostics).
Our objectives
The Plant Surveillance Network Australasia-Pacific is an initiative of the Subcommittee on National Plant Health Surveillance with funding for network activities provided by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. The objectives of the network are to enhance and strengthen Australia’s surveillance capacity and capability to identify priority plant pests that impact on plant industries, environment and the community.
Our initiatives
Importance of plant surveillance
Plant pest surveillance activities are critical to the Australian and New Zealand agriculture and the biosecurity systems that protect them. Surveillance activities provide benefits to agricultural industries, the community and the environment.
‘Surveillance’ is a system of making and recording checks or inspections for plant pests (a broad term that refers to invertebrates and pathogens that negatively impact plants, plant products, bees, or edible fungi). Plant pests are estimated to cause losses of 20-40% every year, highlighting the significant impact they have on food production, food security, the natural environment and ecosystems.
Subcommittee on National Plant Health Surveillance
The Subcommittee on National Plant Health Surveillance (SNPHS) is the subcommittee of the Plant Health Committee that provides advice on national plant health surveillance issues. It is an Australian national group made up of representatives from the Australian government, state and territory governments, with observers from Plant Health Australia (PHA) and the CSIRO.
SNPHS aims to improve processes and capability for plant pest surveillance by:
- Coordinating the development of National Surveillance Protocols for Plant Pests
- Reviewing and implementing the National Plant Biosecurity Surveillance Strategy
- Coordinating the Plant Surveillance Network Australasia-Pacific
- Facilitating professional development to support improved plant pest surveillance
- Facilitating improved standards and methodologies for plant pest surveillance
Surveillance Programs
PSNAP Funding Partners
