Fighting Against Invasive Species Through Global and Stakeholder Partnerships—A Case Study of Boxwood Blight

Boxwood blight, caused by the fungus <i>Calonectria pseudonaviculata</i>, is an emerging destructive disease in the United States that has destroyed numerous crops and plantings including many of historic significance. To help the environmental horticulture industry and the public effectively manage this disease, the Boxwood Blight Insight Group organized a series of International Boxwood Seminars with invited speakers primarily from Europe and New Zealand, areas where this disease was studied for more than a decade before its 2011 discovery in the United States. These seminars reached all sectors of the industry and other major stakeholder groups in 46 states as well as Washington DC. Within the audience, 69% were "multipliers," with educators at 34%, industry leaders at 27%, and Master Gardeners at 8%. These webinars promoted the shift of U.S. boxwood production to more resistant cultivars and the migration of production to blight-free or less-affected states. They also facilitated the adoption of best management practices for nurseries and private and public landscapes. These procedural shifts have helped improve boxwood health in nursery production and plantings and sustain growth in boxwood demand. In addition to providing Americans with the perspectives of scientists in countries where the disease was first found, these webinars reached stakeholders in 24 other countries on five continents. The seminars allowed the development of an exemplary, award-winning global partnership. The free exchange of information on an international basis helped safeguard and promote agricultural biosecurity under the ever-increasing pressure of invasive pathogens and pests.[Formula: see text] Copyright © 2026 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.