Two FABIans, Samantha Bush and Dr Privilege Makunde attended the 7th International Symposium on Biological Control of Arthropods (ISBCA7) held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 26-30 October 2026. Over 120 delegates from 29 countries of the biological control research and practitioner communities attended the symposium.
The symposium was co-hosted by CABI and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) and marked the first time the ISBCA series had been held in Africa. It created a forum for participants to exchange knowledge, share research findings and increase collaboration in the use of biological control in the management of agricultural and forestry pests.
Dr Makunde delivered an oral presentation entitled “Native parasitoids of Euproctis terminalis: laying the foundation for sustainable biological control in South African pine plantations”. Samantha Bush presented a poster, “Near real-time communication of parasitism rates”. Their contributions highlighted FABI’s role in advancing biological control research and improving pest monitoring and management.
FABI’s presence at ISBCA7 was an opportunity to showcase the institute’s research to the international biological control community, engage with researchers from across the field and contribute to discussions on more sustainable approaches to pest management.
The symposium also provided a valuable forum to exchange and collaborate on knowledge, thus increasing the visibility of FABI’s research and contribution to biological control in forestry and agriculture.