The biosecurity threat to the UK and global environment from international trade in plants

Native plant communities, woodlands and landscapes in the UK and across the world are suffering from pathogens introduced by human activities. Many of these pathogens arrive on or with living plants. The potential for damage in the future may be large, but current international regulations aimed at reducing the risks take insufficient account of scientific evidence and, in practice, are often highly inadequate. In this Letter I outline the problems and discuss some possible approaches to reducing the threats.