The RGE-FABI Tree Health Programme (RGE-FABI THP) ended the year with a research update meeting on 30 November. As in the past, this connected the team members in Indonesia and Pretoria. PhD candidates Nam Pham and Kira Lynn were able to travel to Indonesia in November to complete important fieldwork and joined respectively from RGE research centres in the Lake Toba and Riau areas of Sumatra.  Indonesian colleagues Marthin Tarigan and Omar Purba, also students linked to the RGE-FABI THP, joined the group to make presentations. Dr Alvaro Duran, Director of Research and Prof. Mike Wingfield led the discussions and both made the point that great progress had been made on all tree health research fronts, despite the second year of constraints linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. Likewise, they emphasised the importance of personal contact and the fact that plantation visits linking members of the team were somewhat hampered by the ongoing travel restrictions. Nevertheless, great progress was being made by the programme in developing an improved understanding of a multiplicity of disease and pest problems affecting RGE plantations of Eucalyptus and Acacia. This emphasising the importance of ensuring the seamless intersection between fundamental research and forest operations that underpins the RGE-FABI THP.