(Photos by ForestPress)

A Gipsy Moth Workshop is Serbia
Chemtura held its 2nd International Gipsy Moth Conference in Donji Milanovac (Serbia) along the banks of river Danube, near the Iron Gate, 15th through 18th November 2006.
Hotel Lepenski Vir, situated against a picturesque setting, put up the conference as well as its attendants from seven countries, the latter representing sylvicultural organizations and National Parks of their respective homelands.

On behalf of the country in which the event was organized, Mr Sámuel Almási addressed a welcome speech to his audience,

 followed by Mr G. Iwan Jenkins, Application Technologies Expert, of Chemtura Europe Limited.

The first presentation was delivered by Ms Vidosava Jovanovich, Councillor of Forestry Directorate, Agricultural, Forestry, & Water Conservation Ministry of Serbia. Outlining the forest management structure in place in Serbia, she said that there were altogether 27 forestries under the control of a central sylvicultural organization in Belgrade and Novi Sad each. 27 percent of the total area of the country, i.e. 2.4 million hectares, were wooded. 56 percent of forests were state properties, while the remaining 44 percent privately owned. There were five National Parks in Serbia. As far as a pattern of tree species was concerned, beech was, oddly, in the lead with its 57 percent share, with oak taking the second place.
Currently, Serbia had its dedicated law on crop protection, but harmonization with EU laws would entail new legislation on forest conservation and crop protection.
Pursuant to current law in Serbia, it was the owners' obligation to make sure that their forests were conserved and protected. Consequently, forest conservation efforts were financed by the owners too. There was a forest conservation info service in place in the country.
Changing over to exuberances of gipsy moth, Ms Jovanovich said that written records of damages had been available in Serbia since 1862. Generally, an exuberance had lasted 4 to 6 years. The last major exuberance of gipsy moths had occurred in 2003 through 2005, with damages done by the pest on a total area of 163,000 hectares in 2003, 360,000 hectares in 2004, and 64,000 hectares in 2005, respectively.
About control methods, it was told that, oddly enough, manual and mechanical control techniques had been used, i.e. masses of eggs removed, on relatively large areas; in particular, on 113,000 hectares in 2003, 110,000 hectares in 2004, and 19,416 hectares in 2005, respectively. Such work had been mainly performed by pupils within the framework of biological field exercises.
The location of exuberance had been changing dyniamically, with a gradual shift eastwards.
The Ministry had passed a decree on control measures to be organized and taken in case of emergency, and set up a scientific task force, comprising agricultural and sylvicultural experts, dedicated to exuberance control. In Serbia too, pest-stricken areas had included cropped lands and orchards as well.
In the course of control efforts, a large-scale information campaign had been launched. Media had been used as well as leaflets distributed, and presentations delivered in villages.
To make control efforts even more difficult, about 200,000 hectares of forests in private ownership, mostly in small-size plots with a multitude of owners, and adjacent to cultivated lands, had been affected. And the land register was far from being accurate. In many cases, government authorities had failed to enforce the owners' obligation of control, and, hence could not help bearing costs. Local authorities had also been among cost bearers.
Making a proper choice of crop protectant had caused another problem. As, in the first year, an adequate active substance had not been available, tenders had been invited.

Ms Gordana Janchich, Forest Engineer, talked about issues of practical control, outlining the current situation in forestries in Serbia in general, and Voivodina in particular, and introducing Gyerdap and Fruska Gora National Parks. It was told that, just like in our country [i.e. Hungary], control works had been done in privately owned forests too because separation had been infeasible due to a chessboard pattern of forests of multiple owners.
17 plus 17 crop-protection experts had been hired to direct the work done by 188 forest engineers and 620 forest rangers in state-owned and private forests.
Control plans had been developed in accordance with the intensity of attack determined on the basis of egg mass samples taken, such plans including time schedules and cost estimates as well. Upon an analysis based on data from field surveys in August through September, final control plans had been finished by December. In the meanwhile, mechanical destruction of masses of eggs had been an ongoing effort.
One of the main goal of control plans had been to involve private sylviculturists, the more the better, in control efforts, with the information campaign being one of the instruments used to achieve this goal. It was in February that stocks of the chemical, chosen upon evaluation of tenders, had been purchased. Subsequently, airports had been selected, and all necessary maps acquired. Arrangements had had to be made for warehousing facilities, water, and collection of packaging material wastes. Communities had been informed on work in progress on an ongoing basis, and, finally, results of the effort appraised.
Major attention had had to be paid to constraints of weather as well as hatch-out dynamics.
Altogether 15 aircraft had been used, with 1000 litres of active substance sprayed during each flight.
The case had been different with the latest exuberance, in which a former revision of the control strategy, and revaluation of the role of mechanical control, had been instrumental. Masses of eggs deposited at higher elevations being beyond human reach, mechanical control had ultimately been found to be an incomplete solution of the problem. Even though manual control resulted in a change of hatch-out dynamics, most of the pests would not die.

Dr Mara Tabacovich-Toshich, research worker of the Serbian Forestry Research Institute, reported, among others, the operation of the forecast service. Provision of forecasts was a duty rendered mandatory by law in Serbia. Several years before, Serbia had been initiator within UN circles of a Forest Conservation Convention, to be signed by 17 countries later. Following out the spirit of that Convention, Serbia attached great importance to their Forest Conservation Act, provided forecasts of pest attacks, and recommended adequate control methods.
Control efforts were being made on three levels: the level of forecasts was regional; central forestry organizations constituted another level; and the third level of control effort was that of implementation.
Field data collected and summed weekly were forwarded to the two central sylvicultural agencies, and a delivery of such data made to the Forestry Research Institute every month where they finally reached the Ministry from. Decisions were made upon evaluation of data, and passed on back to lower levels.
Every year an annual prognosis as well as long-term forecasts for a five-year or even longer period were developed.
Plans were worked out for each region.
In 2006, pug moths had been adding their damage to that of gipsy moths.
According to forecasts, an exuberance of gipsy moths had been over, while damage from a range of other species, including pug moths, were expected.