On the incidental exposure of the general public to invasive forest pests through mainstream media

Invasive forest pests represent a major threat to ecosystems and the economy. They are often first detected in urban forests, making these environments strategic for early warning and global forest protection efforts. Although early detection is crucial to the success of eradication measures, the surveillance capacity of official authorities is limited. Citizen science can help bridge this gap—provided that citizens are aware of the stakes and prepared to play an active role. In this context, mainstream media may serve as a key channel to raise public awareness. We surveyed mainstream media coverage of 14 native, invasive alien non-regulated, and quarantine forest pests across 15 European countries, mostly over the 2011-2024 period. Searching for the scientific or common name of these pests in each national language returned more than 16,000 outputs. While quarantine species were mentioned less frequently than native pests, they were more likely to be mentioned in countries where they have occurred, remain present, or have been eradicated. Interestingly, we also found references to quarantine pests in countries where they were not officially reported. This last finding highlights the potential of mainstream media to attract public attention to tree pests before the surge of an outbreak—an opportunity that should be more systematically leveraged to support early detection and citizen engagement, particularly in cities where the risk of introduction and the potential for early detection is the highest.