Bad News Ash Disease discovered in East Anglia

[Forest2Furniture]

So what are the guide lines for guys like us who work in different woodlands, is it a case of disinfect boots and equipment at the end of each day or before leaving area. Are we going to see straw soaked in disenfectant at the entrances to all wodlands and forests like we had at farms during the foot & mouth outbreak.

I know it sounds daft but how do we slow it's progress?

[AlexB]

I asked my local woodland officer and his advise was

Me

"I was just wondering what the bio security measures were for this? Are they the same as P.ramorum?"

Fc

"we are doing it for every site anyway now. unlikely to impact on spread of Chalara though as spores only viable for 48hrs ish so only a problem after june to oct? my advice is clean kit when coming off any site just in case..."

 

thanks,

[Late Rev Smith]

I'm very fearful of what this fungus is going to do. So here's a question about the future: I have a block of around 1100 ash trees (West Norfolk), planted 10 years ago, destined for coppicing. They are planted at around 2m centres (FC insisted on this) and are healthy. I was planning to start coppicing either this winter or next, taking out about 150 each year until I got to the end. Should I do a lot more in view of the likelihood of disease striking in the next few years? Should I plant new species between the stools as I coppice, on the grounds that the ashes will die anyway in the not too distant future? If so, what species should I plant (I was thinking hornbeam, alder, sycamore, hazel; a mix really that will grow quickly and can be coppiced).

 

I'm really p***ed off about this - I planted some 12,000 trees on a 15 acre site to try to bring back some biodiversity and create habitat for the wildlife (very successfully so far), and now lax controls are going to affect it badly.

 

Thanks for thoughts/advice

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Reading some documents from guys at FR that a certain % of parent trees will show resistance to Chalara.

 

FC operations appear to be putting costings together for sanitation of sites where outbreaks have occured although my gut feeling is that its probably not viable and could just be a waste of money, especially if you end up actually removing trees in an area which may be resistance and therefore be key to re-population ash

 

Here is some more info including scientific papers for those of you that have access to these, although some have the full paper available directly from the site

 

Homepage

 

Im going to ask the mods to sticky this thread

 

I dont think eradication is going to work, we have to accept its here and our problem to deal with as and when trees die. We need to let those that will resist do so naturaly, as you say they will most likely be eradicating all in a vicinity, a bad policy in my opinion

 

I'm very fearful of what this fungus is going to do. So here's a question about the future: I have a block of around 1100 ash trees (West Norfolk), planted 10 years ago, destined for coppicing. They are planted at around 2m centres (FC insisted on this) and are healthy. I was planning to start coppicing either this winter or next, taking out about 150 each year until I got to the end. Should I do a lot more in view of the likelihood of disease striking in the next few years? Should I plant new species between the stools as I coppice, on the grounds that the ashes will die anyway in the not too distant future? If so, what species should I plant (I was thinking hornbeam, alder, sycamore, hazel; a mix really that will grow quickly and can be coppiced).

 

I'm really p***ed off about this - I planted some 12,000 trees on a 15 acre site to try to bring back some biodiversity and create habitat for the wildlife (very successfully so far), and now lax controls are going to affect it badly.

 

Thanks for thoughts/advice

 

I can totaly understand your anger and concerns regarding your plantation. This could have drastic effects for you. I personally wouldnt pollard your trees for a couple of years yet, the young growth will be even more susceptible to infection as they are weakened by the pollarding/coppice for some time and the new growth will be like candy to Chalara.

[Andy Collins]

Tonys point takes it around to the queriesi made in my thread about a code of conduct, a responsibility that we all have as professionals to endeavour to do the right things to curb the effects of this issue.

[Paul Smith]

How will the movement ban effect us and how will it be enforced? What does the ban consist of?

[Tinker]

I'm waiting for confirmation from the T.O. that I've found it in Sheffield:thumbdown:

[Dan Earp]

The spread in leicester, ive been told was because of a lad working in leicester county council trees dept. he bought a load in from over seas now weve got it here too

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Tonys point takes it around to the queriesi made in my thread about a code of conduct, a responsibility that we all have as professionals to endeavour to do the right things to curb the effects of this issue.

 

The only thing I can suggest is burn all ash waste as and when we prune them and burn on site in situ along with loose leaf litter, but this is micro biology loose in the u.k and we wont contain it, its not possible. we can do our best, but it wont be able to control something of this nature.

 

it sounds pessimistic, but this is the truth, we let it in, now its here we will have to come to terms with yet another epic failure in biosecurity

[Andy Collins]

Agreed Tony, I'm not convinced by the statement that the risk of spreading is low if it is wood chipped, in saw logs etc, but there you go, better than I have studied this at length. I'm just sure that as we are working at the coalface we are in as good a position as anyone to have some kind of impact on the outcome, even if it just slows down the spread a little. As I said elsewhere, I couldn't believe at a major local plant sale this last weekend, they were flogging off their supplies of Ash saplings cheap to beat the ban, and they were legally doing nothing wrong, morally maybe. The plant passport scheme has Ben proven to have it's failings too, another half assed attempt at control.