Integrated pest management (IPM) is an ecologically based pest management strategy that provides long-term management of pest problems with minimum impact on human health, the environment and non-target organisms. IPM programs are educationally based and focus on our knowledge of pest biology and its relationship within the environment.
Management techniques often used as part of an IPM program include improving hygiene standards, use of pest exclusion methods, habitat manipulation, encouraging naturally occurring biological control, use of alternate plant species or varieties resistant to pests, selection of target specific pesticides which are classed as reduced-risk options.
IPM steps include:
- Pest identification and establishing useful biological information about the organism.
- Monitoring and use of threshold action levels. Many organisms do not achieve pest status unless large numbers are present.
- If necessary take action. After considering what the suspected pest organism actually is, where it is occurring and how many there are, the organism may no longer be considered to have a pest status. If the organism is found to have a pest status then ecologically sound management methods are employed to reduce the pest population levels below threshold levels.
For more information on IPM in schools and child care facilities, and to share this information with school administrators or pest management professionals, please view Introduction to School IPM.