MPs, insects and trees: The Pine Wood Nematode in the Portuguese Parliament

The Pine Wood Nematode (PWN) Bursaphelenchus xylophilus is the causal agent of the pine wilt disease, and a quarantine organism within the European Union. This pathogen was first detected in Portugal in 1999, associated to dead coastal pines (Pinus pinaster), its vector among trees being the native insect Monochamus galloprovincialis. Over the years, the management and control of both the nematode and the vector has been implemented by the Portuguese National Programme to Control the Pine Wood Nematode (PROLUNP), one of whose main current strategies is focused on the prevention of dispersal of wilt disease to new locations. This paper aims to explore how the pathogen and the forestry management strategy were perceived by the members of the parliament (MPs) of the Portuguese Republic, based on documents from 1999 until the present day