The Polyphagous Shot-Hole Borer (PSHB) (Euwallacea fornicatus) is a beetle that poses a significant threat to tree health. This tiny insect bores into living trees to cultivate a Fusarium fungus, disrupting the tree’s nutrient flow and often leading to tree death. With no known effective chemical treatments, early detection and prompt removal of infested trees are crucial to containing PSHB spread.

Urban pest incursions, such as the PSHB in Western Australia, present unique challenges and opportunities. Urban landscapes are environmentally, socially, and jurisdictionally diverse, encompassing a wide range of stakeholders with varying levels of concern, participation, and compliance during pest responses.

This presentation will explore the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s (DPIRD) response to the PSHB incursion. It will highlight the importance of social license in managing the impacts of tree removal on local aesthetics, urban canopy, property values, cultural heritage, and emotional attachment to trees.

We will discuss our dynamic approach to communication, which included the development of a PSHB Communications toolkit to empower stakeholders and amplify messaging, in-person engagement, targeted communications, and the use of surveillance traps as a public engagement tool.

This presentation will provide an overview of the communications and stakeholder engagement journey from the initial detection in August 2021 until the present day. It will highlight key communication insights, challenges, innovative approaches, and successes, offering an insight into the public information behind this nationally cost-shared eradication campaign.