Written question asked by Duke of Montrose (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Henley (Conservative) on Thursday, 16 December 2010.

Trees

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there has been a risk assessment of the dangers posed to trees in the United Kingdom by the current outbreak of Phytopthora ramorum; and what options there are to mitigate the risk.

Answer: A formal pest risk assessment was prepared and emergency measures were put in place following the initial detection of Phytophthora ramorum in 2003. This was quickly followed by the adoption of EU emergency measures which are still in force. A five-year programme of action was launched on 1 April 2009 after a public consultation by Defra and the Forestry Commission on options for tackling the disease. The principal way to reduce the risk of infection is to reduce the level of inoculum to epidemiologically insignificant levels by removal of infected sporulating hosts in woodlands and the wider environment.

Secondary information