Defra has published its Chalara Action Plan, setting out the ways the Government plans to tackle the disease.
These include:
- Newly-planted diseased trees and diseased trees in nurseries will be traced and destroyed, as once young trees are infected they succumb quickly.
- Mature trees will not currently be removed, as they are valuable to wildlife, take longer to die and can help us learn more about genetic strains that might be resistant to the disease. Infection does not occur directly from tree to tree.
- Better understanding of the disease will be built through research and surveys, which will look not only for diseased trees but for those that show signs of genetic resistance to Chalara, to help identify genetic strains resistant to the disease.
- The search for the disease will include trees in towns and cities as well as the countryside, building partnerships with a range of organisations beyond Government.
- Foresters, land managers, environment groups and the general public will be informed about how to identify diseased trees and those likely to be resistant to the disease, and know what to do if they find a diseased tree.
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