Green infrastructure, including urban forests, has been proposed by European Commission as a strategy to support climate adaptation capacity and sustainable development in the urban areas where over 70% of the EU’s population live. Alarmingly, the green infrastructure and especially its characteristic elements, trees, are increasingly threatened by alien pests (insects and pathogens) that are introduced via trade and transports. In a new environment, these pests may become invasive, causing devastating environmental and economic losses, and threatening also unique cultural values such as those linked to veteran trees. The current biosecurity system fails to capture alien pests that often also benefit from the altered climate. New tools and better integration of different knowledge pools are urgently needed to support better biosecurity in urban settings.

This Action, funded by COST Action, will bring together a pan-European and international network of scientists and stakeholders to meet this challenge..