Forest Pathology: The Threat of Disease to Plantation Forests in Indonesia

There has been a significant increase in the establishment of forestry plantation species in Indonesia over the last decade and it appears that this is likely to continue as the native forest resource rapidly dwindles. The future success of these monocultures will be dependent upon future breeding programs that not only select for yield and form, but more importantly a high level of resistance to a range of pests and diseases. A number of devastating diseases have been found in Indonesia and in other surrounding countries of South East Asia, with further discoveries highly similar. It is of utmost importance that the industry adopts a pro-active approach to combat these diseases by embracing breeding programs in the very near future. Forest pathologists will play a key role in the success of this breeding. It is therefore essential that both industry and government provide substantial support for forest pathology research in the future. This study discusses some of the potential diseases capable of causing significant losses to Eucalyptus plantations. The importance of selection of highly disease resistant genotypes and the essential role of taxonomists and forest pathologists to the future success of the industry are discussed.