The days of applying pesticides to kill organisms destroying a newly planted crop, and inadvertently impacting the health of people, animals, soils and waterways are gone. In its place is a bewildering cliff of legislation, standards, guidelines, and rules, and the TIPWG website assists foresters in abseiling the pitfalls.

Dr Ronald Heath, Forestry South Africa (FSA)’s director of research and protection, describes the website as a “robust, easy to use resource that helps compliance with legislation”. FSA recently hosted a Timber Industry Pesticide Working Group (TIPWG) “101” online seminar on why, when and how to navigate the website.

The “Guide to All Things Pesticide” event was attended by over 90 representatives of the forestry sector, pesticide industry, academic and research institutions, media, and training providers. It presented an overview of TIPWG’s mandate, a guide to its website, an introduction to TIPWG-funded research and an update on the review of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) South African national standard.

Website 101

TIPWG’s coordinator, Jacqui Meyer, said the organisation’s role is to:

• Provide technical support and recommendations.
• Assist the industry in complying with legislation, international conventions and standards bodies.
• Facilitate collaboration on socially acceptable, environmentally responsible and economically viable pesticide use.
• Develop industry guidelines and standard operating procedures for integrated pest management practices (IPM).
• Facilitate collaboration, research and communication.

Meyer, Dr Katy Johnson and Roger Poole presented an overview of the website. They highlighted the need for collaboration and communication to improve IPM, increase return on investment, reduce costs, coordinate the industry’s needs with pesticide manufacturers and reduce unnecessary duplication in research.

They urged nurseries and forestry companies to use the latest Approved Pesticides List (APL) version. More changes will happen once the FSC standard review is completed.

FSC National Standard

Dr Richard Ferguson described the FSC’s review of SA’s national standard. The revision process will be registered by the beginning of March. The first draft will be available for public consultation in 12 months. He said the existing 2019 standard is still valid until the second version has been approved by the FSC. By early 2026, it will be ready for two phases of public consultation and testing of new elements.

Ferguson facilitated a panel discussion on the review process after the presentation by members of the three chambers reviewing the standard:

• Economic chamber - Axel Jooste
• Environmental – Jacqui Meyer
• Social chamber - Justin Nyakudanga and Makale Ngwenya

The panellists said a lot has changed since the first FSC standard was registered five years ago. For example, the emphasis was not on risk-based assessment, natural forests were excluded, more community dialogue is needed for meaningful engagement, and the revised international generic indicators (IGIs) must be incorporated in the environmental and social risk assessment (Esra) instruments.

TIPWG funded research

Dr Jolanda Roux led the discussion on TIPWG research funded through FSA. She referenced successful past projects on the environmental impact of pesticides by Jonathan Roberts and Dr Keith Little.

This year’s focus is increasing the suite of pesticides and fungicides in nurseries. The few products registered for nurseries are old, which exposes the industry to resistance build-up. TIPWG is partnering with pesticide companies to find products that are already available.

• Dr Noxolo Ndlovu of NCT presented an overview of her research on understanding the soil, water and sediment behaviour of key pesticides used in SA’s forest plantations. She developed a generic decision support tool to guide pesticide use.
• Dr Bernice Bancole, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Commercial Forestry Research (ICFR), presented progress on her four-year project of expanding the pest management toolkit currently available to the SA forestry industry. There is an urgent need for alternative chemical and biological control products for nurseries and plantations.
• Prof Bruce Talbot of Stellenbosch University spoke about the three research projects he manages on using technology in IPM. Jina Park, an MSc student, presented an update on her research into developing a machine-learning model to enhance accuracy, efficiency and adaptability in identifying weeds within tree plantation environments.

Beyond 2024

Poole said biological controls are shifting from the pioneer stage to the competitive stage as they gain acceptance in commercial agriculture. “Biologicals are not the silver bullet and won’t eliminate the use of pesticides, but there is a place for them”.

Meyer commented on the increasing social pressure to reduce pesticides and said the organisation and industry are evolving. “TIPWG is proactively looking for less harmful and more effective control measures. Research, collaborations, and participation will continue, and we will communicate the results”.

“I urge you to do a self-audit and review using the IPM procedures. Rinse and repeat. Small, consistent changes are better than a single approach”.