Since both working parties have many common members , it was proposed by the chairpersons to merge the two working parties. This proposition was accepted by the 31 members attending the joint business meeting of both parties. Ursula Heiniger was elected as chairperson, Risto Jalkanen, Gaston Laflamme, and M. Ostry were elected as vice chairpersons.
New members are welcome to join the working party.
A network of scientists engaged in fungal tree diseases will be established and a member directory will be sent out to all members. A Newsletter will be published yearly or more frequently if there is more information to share. Regular scientific meetings will be held. Ten invited papers and 7 voluntary papers will be presented and discussed in 4 sessions. The paper edition is not yet ready, but almost all submitted information has been made available on the World Wide Web.