Environment, Food and Rural Affairs CommitteeFurther written evidence submitted by the Country Land and Business Association

Since the CLA last submitted evidence in March 2013 a number of developments have occurred in the area of tree health—below are some of the key changes the CLA intends to discuss when giving oral evidence.

The CLA’s Forestry and Woodland Adviser represents the Association on the Chalara Core Stakeholder Group, the Chalara Outbreak Management Team, the Phytophthora ramorum Industry Liason Group and the P ramorum Outbreak Management Team. He has also been closely engaged in the progress of the research into Acute Oak Decline. As such the CLA have an excellent understanding of the issues associated with tree health. Also CLA members bear much of the costs associated with the consequences of tree pests and diseases and so tree health is an important issue for our membership.

In the last few months it has become clear that in the wider environment in the East of England, Chalara has been present in the Ash population for at least four years and that in some areas in the rest of England infected trees were being imported and planted as long ago as 1996. Both these facts point to the long-term inadequacies in both import controls and early warning surveillance systems.

The new Defra team tasked with managing a disease outbreak such as Chalara fraxinea are starting to make a difference to the governance structures but still seem somewhat hesitant. They need to be empowered to make the changes required to address the problems.

We are heartened that sustained pressure by CLA and others has belatedly prompted a change of strategy on the management of Oak Processionary Moth disease and hope that it has been in time to halt and reverse the spread of this potentially devastating pest.

Sweet Chestnut is now the subject of a movement restriction order which effectively bans its import except from areas with protected zone status. However as protected zones status are not tightly defined there can be some uncertainty over how large the area has to be. Is it a national or regional boundary or can an individual nursery claim protected zone status? This needs to be clarified if the zones are going to be effective. The fact that the UK is still claiming protected zone status for Chalara also calls into question the value of the designation for any potential threat.

There is a clear value in research to expand our knowledge of tree pests and diseases, and a good understanding of the organism you are facing is essential if there is to be any chance of developing a treatment or management strategy to address it. However, at a time when we are facing such a significant threat and resources are limited it is vital that all research into tree pests and diseases is clearly focussed on finding ways to prevent their incursion, find treatments or managements practices that reduce their effects, develop breeding programmes and management practices that will make our trees and woodlands more resilient. This focus does not seem to be apparent in some of the research fraternity.

It is clear that despite the greater importance given to tree health by the Secretary of State, Fera, Forestry Commission and Forest Research staff at operational level are still having to juggle their time between Phytophthora and Chalara with virtually no resources available to monitor any new threats that may already be germinating in our woods.

Work has begun on a national risk register and an “Import Ban” has been introduced for Sweet Chestnut but more urgency is required. In the last few years serious pests and diseases have been arriving at a rate of more than one a year, we need to slow this rate of incursion. We must establish protected zone status for as many of our trees as possible, as quickly as possible. This will give us the best chance of reducing the import of additional diseases and will give the domestic nursery trade the foundations upon which to build greater domestic production. The decision to suspend the provision of grant aid for new planting during the RDPE transition period will strike another blow to the domestic nursery trade whose survival will be essential if we are to develop a good and reliable supply of plants grown in Britain as part of our improved tree health programme.

A start has been made addressing some of the issues but more urgency and an ability to respond to what is often a rapidly changing situation. For example, the massive explosion in the number of infections of P ramorum in larch this year which demonstrates the failure of the existing strategy and seriously calls into question the effectiveness of any strategy with the aspiration of containing the disease.

It is essential that we take prompt and effective action just to prevent the problem of tree disease getting worse. More urgency and unfortunately continued reallocation of resources will be required.

September 2013