Following recent discoveries of the insect by the Forestry Commission on spruce trees in Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, and West Sussex, woodland managers, landowners, and the forestry industry are being urged to increase their vigilance regarding the risk of the tree pest Ips typographus, also known as the larger eight-toothed European spruce bark beetle.
The new discoveries were obtained as a result of ordinary Forestry Commission plant health surveillance activities.
In accordance with the eradication measures taken to handle outbreaks of Ips typographus discovered in 2021, a rigorous management program is in place to manage the outbreak sites and prevent possible pest spread.
Parts of Hampshire will now be included in the already delineated boundary, preventing any further possible spread.
The transfer of spruce wood, bark, and branches, as well as other vulnerable tree materials, is prohibited within the defined area.
Because it can be naturally blown over from Europe, the south-east of England is particularly vulnerable to the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle’s invasion.
To track for potential incursions of the pest from the continent and to identify suspect places, a vast network of pheromone traps has been set up throughout the south-east.
To prevent the spread of Ips typographus in the long run, the Forestry Commission is urging landowners in the affected areas to remove stressed or weak spruce and replant with other species.
According to Jane Hull, the Forestry Commission’s area director for London and the South East,
The forestry industry will be safeguarded, the additional plant health enforcement actions announced today will guarantee our valuable spruce are kept in the landscape, and they will stop this potentially destructive insect from getting established.
Chief Plant Health Officer for the UK, Nicola Spence, said:
Despite not being a hazard to human health, the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle can have a significant negative impact on spruce tree species and the forestry sector.
As part of our well-established biosecurity protocol used for tree pests and diseases, we are acting quickly and forcefully to limit the outbreaks’ spread.
Through its online TreeAlert system, the Forestry Commission should be notified of any sightings.
For woodland managers with spruce trees afflicted by or at risk from the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle, grants are available through the Tree Health Pilot.
The grants can be used to cover the costs of felling trees, installing protective measures like fencing and netting, improving access to trees through the installation of infrastructure and access aids like temporary road surfaces, and restocking and capital items to replace the trees with new species that are better suited to surviving pests, diseases, and climate change.
Following the implementation of regulations in December of last year, woodland managers are now required to notify the Forestry Commission in writing if they intend to cut down any vulnerable spruce material or destroy any Picea A. Dietr trees that are over three meters tall inside the designated region.
A prohibition on leaving susceptible material in the designated area after falling without an inspector’s written permission was also put into place.
These expanded upon already-existing limitations on the transfer of vulnerable materials into or out of the defined area.