Ireland bans Ash imports due to 'Chalara dieback'

[PaddyJoe]

Sounds a bit outlandish but worrying enough when you live somewhere where the tree grows like a weed:

Imports of ash trees are being banned by the authorities in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to help prevent the spread of Chalara dieback.

Chalara ash dieback, caused by a fungus called Chalara fraxinea, has been found in Great Britain.

In Denmark, the disease has wiped out about 90% of the ash trees.

Agriculture minister Michelle O'Neill said she had had talks with her counterpart in the Republic and were taking a "fortress Ireland" approach.

"We agreed that emergency legislation was essential to control the imports of ash trees into Ireland.

"It was therefore an important step that we have co-ordinated the introduction of legislation so that we have equivalent measures coming into force on the same day north and south."

She said that emergency legislation had been introduced and there would be a meeting of stakeholders and industry representatives next week to discuss further monitoring and control measures

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20105017

[fluffybiscuits]

Sounds a bit outlandish but worrying enough when you live somewhere where the tree grows like a weed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-20105017

Good news for the hurling industry

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

That'd be some game. The All-Ireland Final where all the hurleys suddenly turn to dust. It'd be like the lead in to a Guinness ad.

'Believe'.

They'd have to play the final with a load of those little plastic yellow hurleys Santa used to bring

[Yojimbo]

All too late. The disease already seems to have a foothold in Ireland. I find it unbelievable that we actually import Ash from Poland (including a lot of the Ash in hurleys. And we were doing it when this disease was known about - its known to be spreading rapidly in Europe since 2007.

In parts of Europe it kills 90% of mature Ash, It will devastate our native woodlands. It could easily have been stopped, but nobody wanted to put in place some very straightforward restrictions.

I was going to plant a small ash grove for my sister as a fuel source this year. No point in doing it now.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...8.01924.x/full
http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/a...x#.UI0HmG_O-uE

[C. Flower]

All too late. The disease already seems to have a foothold in Ireland. I find it unbelievable that we actually import Ash from Poland (including a lot of the Ash in hurleys. And we were doing it when this disease was known about - its known to be spreading rapidly in Europe since 2007.

In parts of Europe it kills 90% of mature Ash, It will devastate our native woodlands. It could easily have been stopped, but nobody wanted to put in place some very straightforward restrictions.

I was going to plant a small ash grove for my sister as a fuel source this year. No point in doing it now.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1...8.01924.x/full
http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/a...x#.UI0HmG_O-uE

Are you sure that it has ? It has reached the UK but I haven't seen any reports of it in Ireland. The Woodland Trust suggests checking all young ash plantations and reporting and destroying infected trees.

In the UK, it has been found in East Anglia. That would make me wonder if it was wind borne, which would mean that it would almost inevitably be widespread there and here.

It is very serious indeed. Ash is one of our few native trees and holds an important place in the ecosystem.

[Yojimbo]

Are you sure that it has ? It has reached the UK but I haven't seen any reports of it in Ireland. The Woodland Trust suggests checking all young ash plantations and reporting and destroying infected trees.

In the UK, it has been found in East Anglia. That would make me wonder if it was wind borne, which would mean that it would almost inevitably be widespread there and here.

It is very serious indeed. Ash is one of our few native trees and holds an important place in the ecosystem.

Yes, there was a case found in Leitrim on imported planted trees (why the hell are we importing Ash?)

http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/press/...,67308,en.html

The Department is playing it down, but its almost impossible to stop a fungus like this once it spores. The reality is that just like the UK authorities, they screwed up, there should have been a complete ban on all ash imports as soon as they knew about this disease - and it has been regularly discussed at EU level since 2009 and has been known since 2005.

[PaddyJoe]

It seems that the UK government was asked three years ago to ban ash imports but no action was taken.

The government was warned three years ago that the rampant disease killing Denmark's ash trees was likely to spread to Britain and devastate UK woodland but failed to act, it has emerged.

Emails exchanged between Britain's garden industry body, the Horticultural Trades Association, and senior civil servants in the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (Defra), show that the government knew about "ash dieback" and was asked to impose an import ban on all ash trees from Europe, but did not believe a ban was "appropriate"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...eback-warnings

[5intheface]

Where's our Fraxinus when we need him?

Hope he's not feeling unwell.

[Fraxinus]

Where's our Fraxinus when we need him?

Hope he's not feeling unwell.

All's well...I'm keeping indoors and mask-up any time I have to go out...staying away from the Leitrim lady trees too

[Fraxinus]

On the OP though, shocking delayed reaction here and Britain considering the disease has been known about and also the fact that we are blessed with being islands and having a natural barrier to such diseases.
I can understand how we import timber for hurls..seeing we have so few ash woodlands but we should be more than self sufficient in saplings. Frustrating.

[C. Flower]

On the OP though, shocking delayed reaction here and Britain considering the disease has been known about and also the fact that we are blessed with being islands and having a natural barrier to such diseases.
I can understand how we import timber for hurls..seeing we have so few ash woodlands but we should be more than self sufficient in saplings. Frustrating.

Just covered on the Mooney Show, RTE.

An English guy said that the best idea is not to overfell affected areas, but to look out for trees that are surviving, and to try this way to build up resistant stock.

It is much more serious for Ireland than England, I guess, as the ash is such an important tree to us.

Any news on what Government is doing about it ?

[PaddyJoe]

Just covered on the Mooney Show, RTE.

An English guy said that the best idea is not to overfell affected areas, but to look out for trees that are surviving, and to try this way to build up resistant stock.

It is much more serious for Ireland than England, I guess, as the ash is such an important tree to us.

Any news on what Government is doing about it ?

Not a whole lot. Imported ash will have to have a certificate of clearance and imported stock from one consignment which has been planted in 11 different sites is to be destroyed. Probably too late at this stage.
I really can't understand why we are importing ash to this country. I dug up a griselinia hedge killed by frost last year and while I trying to figure out what to replace it with about 15 ash saplings had taken root. It grows like a weed, ffs
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking28.html

[C. Flower]

There is a need for people to be able to identify it and and report it.

The EU treats plants and trees as normal tradeable products. Not good from the point of view of protecting Ireland from diseases endemic / zoodemic in Europe.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ible-eradicate

There are some well informed people saying the biggest danger is over-intervention.



http://www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.u...-fact-of-life/

[fluffybiscuits]

There is a need for people to be able to identify it and and report it.

The EU treats plants and trees as normal tradeable products. Not good from the point of view of protecting Ireland from diseases endemic / zoodemic in Europe.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...ible-eradicate

There are some well informed people saying the biggest danger is over-intervention.



http://www.sussexwildlifetrust.org.u...-fact-of-life/

Australia has an approach where you have to register any products you have that are foodstuffs or live plant or animals (dead or alive). if you dont there are fines of up to a few thousand dollars. A lot of Chinese tourists get caught with it.

Knew watching Border Patrol would ahve some use some day...

[C. Flower]

A good article by Michael Viney, from last Saturday's Irish Times.

"The drifting plague that threatens the ancient ash"

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...326387712.html