Fina Lombardero: "Our students are 100% employable because society needs them"

Fina Lombardero's world is our world. Everyone's world. The same as for millions of years: food, environment, trees and plants... She has been studying and teaching it at the University for over 30 years, making her more than a reference in her fields of knowledge. She is also a more than authoritative voice.

Her curriculum imposes. She holds a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Santiago de Compostela, is a full professor in the Department of Plant Production and Engineering Projects at Campus Terra, a reference for her numerous research and publications in areas such as Forest Entomology, Forest Health, Tree Defense, Climate Change or Invasive Species. He collaborates intensely in this field with other national and international researchers with similar interests.

But his life goes far beyond teaching and research. As it could not be otherwise, Fina lives in a village with her dogs, Nela and Tizón. She loves hiking and working in the vegetable garden and also spends her leisure time restoring antique pieces. "Furniture, implements and country tools from my grandparents or that I found at home when I came to her."

And he has an obsession. A confessable one, though. "I'm also fond of doing puzzles but can't do many because I get obsessed until I finish them. I can only devote myself to them on vacation - I can't leave one half done!"

Conversing with her about her world, ours, is much more than a pleasure...

-Curculio elephas, Cydia splendana, Gnomoniopsis castaneae.... From the outside, anyone would think that the chestnut tree has more enemies than a superhero. Why is this so? Does it have something differential as a species to make things turn out like this?

-No, this is normal. All plant species have many insects, fungi and other organisms that live at their expense, and it is part of that beautiful thing we call biodiversity. What happens is that from time to time, some of them become pests or diseases, but this is almost always from the perspective of the human eye. The chestnut tree produces enough chestnuts to reproduce; it doesn't care if insects eat a few. But man, as a chestnut producer, doesn't care so much.

Many of the problems we have now, especially if we are talking about native species, are a consequence of changes in how we live and use the countryside. Chestnut pests leave the chestnuts once they fall and bury themselves in the soil.

Many of the fungi remain in the leaves, in the hedgehogs or in the chestnuts that we discard on the ground, and this will allow them to recolonize new chestnuts in the following year. Years ago, this did not happen because everything was collected. The good chestnuts were taken for human food and the damaged or poorly developed ones for animal food, so the soil was almost clean, and the risk of reinfection was lower.

This is in terms of native species, but the most severe chestnut problems derive from the introduction of non-native species by the movement of plant material and soils between borders, breaking the natural barriers that existed (oceans, deserts, mountains...), which insects or pathogens could not cross and that man knocked down. And these are causing the most incredible damage.

-As if that were not enough, it is also joined by the chestnut wasp, a pest that affects the tree's growth, decreases the fruit's density and harms bee production. I know you have also done a lot of work in this field. Is it possible to combat this insect when its use of insecticides has proved ineffective?

-Today, insecticide use is the last option to be considered in pest control because of their environmental and human health risks. In the case of the wasp moth, its use would even be detrimental since it spends most of its life hidden in the tree buds. But the flight of this insect coincides with the flowering of the chestnut tree, so the use of insecticides could also affect its pollinators, including bees, which could reduce the production of chestnuts and even honey.

Fortunately, biological control can be used for the wasp moth. There are known natural enemies of this insect, such as the introduced species Torymus sinensis, which feeds on its larvae and causes its death. There are also native species of parasitoids that help control it, especially when population levels are low.

The tree itself also has its defense mechanisms against this insect. For example, it can destroy part of the wasp eggs inside the chestnut buds in autumn and winter.

-You have also done a lot of research on another critical species of the Galician forest mass, the pine tree. What would you say is the state of health of this species in a territory like Galicia? Even in Europe.

-In general terms, pines in Galicia are in good health. Essential damages can occasionally be observed, especially in the introduced species, Pinus radiata. It can suffer many attacks from foliar fungi in wet and remarkable years, but this species is quite tolerant and can continue growing and compensate for the damage.

In Europe, it depends on the species and the geographical area. Towards the Mediterranean area, they suffer environmental problems due to persistent droughts and in other areas due to contamination or expansion of the distribution range of some Mediterranean species due to climate change or, just like us, due to the introduction of pests and diseases from other geographical areas.

-Trees, fungi, insects? What role does climate play in the world of research concerning forest management?

-Climate is critical for several reasons. Climate change can help secondary species to become primary. For example, oak altica in Galicia became a significant problem for this species in hot, dry areas that are not good for oak but are optimal for the insect.

Climatology can help more insects survive in the soil during the winter period, especially in years with dry winters and above-normal temperatures. Periods of summer drought can be detrimental to plants, making them more susceptible to pests and diseases. Abundant rainfall, such as this year's at the time of fruit picking, favors fungi, fruit rot, etc.

In addition, these climatic changes may allow the establishment of non-native species that otherwise, despite being introduced, would not be able to become established.

-Will we see more pests in the future due to climate change?

-For me, in the field of forest health, globalization is more important than climate change because it is the introduced species causing the most significant impact on our forest stands. Favorable climatic conditions can help them establish and proliferate once submitted.

But it is true, as I have already mentioned, that climatic conditions can cause secondary species to become pests, either because the tree cannot withstand these conditions and weakens, thus becoming more susceptible to attack. Or because climatic conditions favor the survival and development of insects.

-Is society sufficiently aware of the importance of forest health? Without green, there is no paradise.

-There is concern among producers, landowners and the Administration, perhaps not among people in the cities, who are a little more disconnected from the rural environment.

But every year, I ask my students to review the newspaper archives on health problems in the forest environment that appear in the newspaper, and they always find something. In other words, they reach the general public. However, they may not be aware of the repercussions on their daily lives, basically in terms of higher prices and deterioration of the environment.

-You have been doing valuable research work at Campus Terra for many years. What would you say are the pillars of all this action?

-Sometimes, I get the impression that we live in a society that turns its back on the primary sector. People don't remember that to eat and to live, we need to produce food and manage the territory, and that's what Campus Terra is doing: improving animal and plant production within a context of sustainability and respect for the environment, proposing initiatives to improve living conditions in rural areas and to fix the population.

The axes on which Campus Terra is based are Plant Production and Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Animal Production and Health, Safe and Healthy Food and Sustainable Forest Management. What could be more necessary for society to continue to function?

-I know this is a somewhat romantic vision, but you are researching and designing a greener, more sustainable, and ultimately better future. Are these very seductive arguments to attract vocations?

-As I said, we can have technological poles, artificial intelligence, drones and aircraft. Still, we have to eat, produce healthy food, wood for more sustainable construction, improve living conditions in rural areas, and manage the territory to obtain production, but also enjoy, conserve and restore the environment in which we live, the landscape and the forest so that they continue to fulfill their ecosystem services, from which we will all benefit. These needs will always be there.

Our students have 100% employment because society needs them.  

-Shouldn't Europe be the world leader in forest management in developing policies and programs that have a global impact?

-Forestry management is outside my expertise, but Europe is at the forefront of plant health issues. We have compelling legislation and a pioneering system of border detection, monitoring, and surveillance of the environment, only comparable to that of the USA, Canada, or Australia.

Even so, we miss many organisms that end up entering and causing a substantial impact on the environment, especially from countries with which we have intense commercial activity, such as China.

The pending issue is establishing a system similar to Europe's but at a global level. Health can only be addressed globally. This would avoid a large number of sometimes devastating problems.

Chestnut dye, for example, almost led to the extinction of the chestnut tree in Galicia a century ago, and chestnut cancer killed some 4,000 million trees in the United States in 50 years at the beginning of the last century. In North America today, they write off the ash tree as lost. These realities should give us food for thought the next time we travel or buy vegetables or derivatives from outside our environment.