Assessing awareness of tree pests and pathogens amongst tree professionals: A pan-European perspective

Tree professionals play an important role in protecting forests against invasive pests. Their awareness of pests and knowledge of how they spread is likely to be a key component of effective detection, eradication and management measures, but very little is known about awareness levels of this stakeholder group. To address this important evidence gap, a questionnaire survey of tree professionals was carried out across nine European countries. Results from 392 tree professionals show relatively low levels of self-reported awareness for a number of pests and pathogens. Levels of awareness rise with increasing age as well as frequency of visits to forests. Awareness also appeared higher where pests were present in the respondent's country. There was a high level of support for purchasing plant material from accredited sources. Barriers to changing behaviours include financial and resource pressures but also the perceived behaviour of others. Tree professionals utilise multiple sources to gain information about tree pests but the internet was the most popular. A considerable amount of pest information is already available online and this study recommends that different approaches to raising awareness be trialled, including the use of experienced tree professionals as knowledge brokers and exploring new ways of using digital technologies as a learning tool. •We conducted a questionnaire survey of tree professionals in 9 European countries.•Self-reported awareness levels of pests amongst tree professionals is low.•Awareness increases with age and frequency of visits or familiarity with forests.•Resource pressures and perceived behaviours of others act as barriers to change.•Approaches to raising awareness should include knowledge brokerage.