Plans for a new National Centre for Environmental Horticulture and Plant Health have been announced to help mitigate existing and emerging threats to the UK’s green spaces.

The £3m centre comes in collaboration between the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) and Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

Funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the centre will be operated virtually by staff based based at APHA and RHS sites across the country.

The RHS also plans to lean on its members to raise awareness of biosecurity and track priorities for both industry and home gardeners nationally.

Professor Nicola Spence, Defra chief plant health officer comments:

“Bringing together expertise to deliver innovative research and science will help us stay ahead of emerging threats and better protect the country.”

In a time where “climate change and globalisation are increasing the range and diversity of threats to our plants,” she continues, “this ground breaking new centre marks a significant step forward in how we protect UK biosecurity.”

David Denny, director of research and knowledge transfer at the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA) welcomes the centre. He says:

“It is critical that commercial environmental horticulture businesses are fully embedded in the work of the new Centre from the outset. Growers, retailers and suppliers play a central role in maintaining plant health and biosecurity across the supply chain, and their practical experience must help shape priorities and deliver solutions that work on the ground.”

The research aligns with the Plant Biosecurity Strategy for Great Britain (2023–2028).