The RGE-FABI Tree Health Programme (THP) hosted its annual symposium on 3 December. This linked more than 50 participants from Indonesia, South Africa and Brazil. This symposium is usually held in Indonesia but the COVID-19 pandemic precluded international travel, meaning that the event needed to be hosted using the virtual Zoom platform. The research programme, now in its third year, very successfully continued its activities, even though the South African students could not work in Indonesia and Brazil and Indonesian students could not visit FABI. All team members displayed incredible tenacity in pivoting their activities by relocating many of the planned projects. All members presented updates on their research projects during the three-hour long session. Programme leader Prof. Mike Wingfield said he was very happy with the progress made by the programme in spite of the very real challenges posed by the SARS CoV-2 pandemic. In the subsequent meeting of the RGE-FABI THP Oversight Management Committee (held on Friday 4 December) the RGE Committee Members based in Indonesia congratulated the research team and students on their outstanding accomplishments during 2020.