On a chilly morning last week, I was bussed to a confidential location in Kent to witness the first confirmed outbreak of Ips typographus, the European spruce bark beetle, on British soil. I joined a collective of forestry professionals and government officials to discuss a problem that has ravaged forests on the European continent for decades. In Sweden alone, this species has led to the loss of 9 million cubic metres of Norway spruce timber since the 1960s. Once infected, Ips beetles can kill a tree in a single year. The invasion of the UK by non-native pests and diseases has become profoundly worse in recent years. There has been a 400% increase in the rate of new plant pathogens entering the country since the 1960s, with 10 added to the list every month.