ispi

International Society for Pest Information

 Report of the 2nd Meeting

BBA Institute for Biological Control
Darmstadt, Germany
4 July 2002

 

1. Opening and adoption of the agenda
The meeting was opened by the ISPI president, Christian Borgemeister. A list of the participants of the meeting is attached as Annex I (section 1). The provisional agenda, which corresponds to the numbered sections of this report was adopted unanimously.

2. Election of chairman and rapporteur for the meeting
Christian Borgemeister was suggested as chairman for the meeting and Olaf Zimmermann as rapporteur. Both candidates were elected unanimously.

3a. Report on the activities of the society
Christian Borgemeister reported on the activities of the society between February 2001 and June 2002, see Annex II for details. It was noted that more than 3500 scientists are now registered in the ISPI database, that about 250 CD-ROM were distributed until June 2002 and that the average number of visitors of the ISPI website exceeded 300 per week and since April 2002 500 per week.

3b. Discussion and adoption of the report
The report on the activities was adopted unanimously.

4a. Report of the finance committee of the society
On behalf of the finance committee Olaf Zimmermann reported on the incomes and expenditures of the society. The accounts of the society until June 2002 are summarized in Annex III. The largest expenditure was the printing of the ISPI flyer (696.00 EURO) and the main income was the profit from the CD sales (1270.87 EURO). In July 2002 the account balance was 228.50 EURO.

4b. Discussion and adoption of the report of the finance committee
The report of the finance committee was adopted unanimously. The meeting decided that in the future expenses over 500 EURO should be approved beforehand by a designated member of the finance committee.

5. Election of ISPI officers
The following members agreed to be considered as candidates for the executive and finance committees:

President and Vice-President:
Christian Borgemeister
Jürgen Langewald

Executive Officer:
Bernhard Zelazny

Finance Committee (3 members to be elected):
Jürg Huber
Hans Wilps
Olaf Zimmermann
Matthias E. Zweigert

In accordance with the articles of the society, 7 member, who were unable to attend the meeting, had submitted their ballot forms by mail or e-mail beforehand. These are listed in Annex I section 2. In addition, 9 ballot forms were completed by the members attending the meeting, giving a total of 16 ballots. Based on the election results the following officers were elected for the coming 3 years:

Election of President and Vice President:

President:
Christian Borgemeister, 14 votes

Vice-President:
Jürgen Langewald 14 votes

Election of Executive Officer:

Bernhard Zelazny 14 votes

Election of Finance Committee:

Jürg Huber 13 votes
Olaf Zimmermann 14 votes
Matthias E Zweigert 11 votes

All candidates accepted the vote and their office.

6. Public relations (ISPI Flyer )
An ISPI flyer has been designed by Olaf Zimmermann with the aim to make the society and the CD-ROM database better known. 2000 copies were printed recently. The meeting discussed the distribution of the flyer, e.g. during scientific meetings. In addition, it was recommended that the society prepares a poster which could be also displayed during such meetings. Olaf Zimmermann offered to design the poster, based on the design of the flyer, and Christian Borgemeister offered to take care of printing several copies of the poster. It was further mentioned that in the poster and in future issues of the flyer it should be clarified that plant diseases are included in the society activities. It was also recommended that the society activities in, and for, developing countries should be specifically mentioned in the flyer and the ISPI webpage.

7. New Members
The criteria for full membership of the society was discussed. As stated in the articles of the society there was a consensus that the society does not collect membership fees, but that full members participate in society activities like organizational work, data collection or publications. A corresponding draft text for the ISPI web page was discussed, modified and adopted which would clarify this for persons interested to become full members. It was also noted that it would be desirable to clarify the role of new members within the society as part of the application process.

8. Report and discussion on the working groups "Locust literature" and "Thrips literature"
Two ISPI-working-groups have been established and are active in collecting literature on pest species of Acrididae (locusts and grasshoppers) (lead by Jürgen Langewald and Hans Wilps) and thrips (lead by Gerald Moritz) which is accessible through the ISPI internet page in collaboration with the Wageningen University. The working group on locust literature is collaborating closely with the GTZ Locust Project. The need to apply for project funding for the thrips working-group was discussed. Such a project could focus on the extensive literature collection and index system of Richard zur Strassen (Senckenberg Institute).

9. Cooperation with a publisher and publication policies
The advantages and disadvantages of collaborating with a publisher was discussed. This could, for example, be considered for the distribution of the "Pest Directory" CD or if the society wants to become active in the field of publishing scientific books as CDs. A publisher could ensure wider distribution of ISPI publications. However, it was noted that there is a conflict between the low-price-policy of the society and the costs publishers would charge for such a CD. For publishers the higher prices are necessary because of the limited editions for publications in the field of pest management. The meeting decided that for the time being the society should restrict itself to the collection of information and to further discussions on the subject matter.

10. "Pest Directory" database
Bernhard Zelazny reported on the present status of the "Pest Directory" database. It is currently the main activity of the society and it is being updated continuously. A part of the data such as addresses of registered scientists are now available on the internet. It is expected that the expenses advanced by Bernhard Zelazny since 1997 for the design and production of the database can be recovered in the coming 2-3 years through CD sales.

11. Next meeting
The meeting decided to explore the possibility of holding the next ISPI meeting in Halle in March 2003 in connection with the planned DGaaE-Meeting.

12. Other matters
It was noted that it would be desirable for the society to continue exploring possibilities to cooperate with other organizations in the collection and publication of data relevant to pest management. So far, only a relatively limited collaboration has been established with FAO, in linking the literature web-pages of several locust species with the relevant webpages of Ecoport. It was noted that it has proven difficult to establish such collaboration due to the different aims and data formats of other organizations.

 

Christian Borgemeister
Chairman
Olaf Zimmermann
Rapporteur

 Annex I

ISPI meeting - participating members

1. Members present during the meeting

Christian Borgemeister
Universität Hannover

Jürg Huber
BBA, Darmstadt

Alois Huger
Darmstadt (retired)

Regina Kleespies
BBA, Darmstadt

Christian U. Pantenius
FAO Cairo, Egypt

Said El-Salamouny
University Cairo, Egypt

Richard zur Strassen
Senckenberg Institute, Frankfurt (retired)

Bernhard Zelazny
Griesheim (retired)

Olaf Zimmermann
BBA, Darmstadt

2. Members participating in the election by mail or e-mail, but who were not attending the meeting

Jan Breithaupt
FAO, Rome, Italy

Lemma Ebssa
Universität Hannover

Gerald Moritz
Universität Halle-Wittenberg

Narayanan V. Selvanarayanan
Annamalai University, India

Zuo Rui Shen
China Agriculture University, Beijing

Hans Wilps
GTZ/FAO Cairo, Egypt

Matthias E. Zweigert
GTZ, Yaoundé, Cameroon


Annex II

International Society for Pest Information

Summary Report on the Society Activities
between February 2001 and June 2002

The International Society for Pest Information (ISPI) was established on 31 January 2001 in Darmstadt, Germany with the aim to promote the information exchange in the field of pest management for the benefit of the general public and in an international context. So far, the society activities have focused mainly on preparing a database and on the distribution of information through the internet and as CD-ROM. This was accomplished through the work of society members and the collaboration with various projects. The main achievements have been:

1. Creation of a webpage (http://www.pestinfo.org) which contains the aims of the society, other information, as well as entry points for databases. (Since April 2001.)
2. As part of the webpage, links to relevant scientific journals which offer free access to titles and abstracts (in some cases also full text articles). (Since April 2001.)
3. Scientists were contacted in connection with entering literature into the database. Until mid 2002 about 3500 scientists have registered with ISPI and were entered into the database. Since June 2002 this database can be accessed through the ISPI webpage.
4. Publication of the "Pest Directory" database as CD-ROM. The database contains mainly addresses and literature. The first (preliminary) issue was published in November 2001, the 2nd issue in April 2002. Until June 2002 about 250 CDs were distributed, including 100 to GTZ and 50 to IITA. The CD sales are the main income for the society and have covered, among others, the costs for the webpage and the printing of the ISPI flyer (see report by the finance committee).
5. As part of the webpage and in collaboration with GTZ and the University of Wageningen a database with literature on locusts and thrips was established (since September 2001). This literature collection grows through the activities of two ISPI working groups. The working group on locust literature is lead by Jürgen Langewald (IITA, Benin) and Hans Wilps (GTZ/FAO, Cairo), that on thrips literature by Gerald Moritz (Univ. Halle).

Although the ISPI webpage has been established comparatively recently it is already frequently visited and used. The average number of visitors between April 2001 and June 2002 exceeded 300 per week and since April 2002 500 per week. Apparently scientists use the webpage regularly, e.g. to check on recent issues of journals or to search for literature.

 

Christian Borgemeister (President)
Institute of Plant Diseases and Plant Protection
University of Hannover


Annex III

International Society for Pest Information

Accounts from February 2001 to June 2002
(currency Euro)

item

income

expenses

profit from CD sales

1270.87

-

donations

207.00

-

travel B. Zelazny to Hannover, Jan. 2002

-

131.40

costs for internet page and e-mail account

-

303.28

government fees

-

35.56

postage, xerox copies, bank account, miscellaneous

-

53.75

telephone, e-mail

-

29.38

printing of ISPI flyer

-

696.00

total

1477.87

1249.37

balance

228.50

-

Presented by the ISPI Finance Committee (July 4, 2002)

Christian Borgemeister
Olaf Zimmermann
Matthias Zweigert