Ash Dieback: New Trees To Be Destroyed

By Nick Pisa, Sky News Reporter

New and young trees infected with ash dieback disease will be destroyed under new Government plans to contain the outbreak.

The action plan will also see the search for trees with the deadly fungal disease spread beyond the countryside into towns and cities.

But there are no proposals yet to remove mature trees due to fears for wildlife as well as hopes they could help research into ash dieback.

The public, along with foresters, land managers and environmental groups, will also be told how to spot the disease and what to do if they find an infected tree.

An ash sapling infected with the disease

The proposals to tackle the crisis, which threatens millions of the UK's native ash trees, were finalised by ministers at a Cobra crisis meeting on Friday

Department of the Environment officials have worked with the Forestry Commission and other agencies to find the best way to contain the spread of Chalara fungus, known as ash dieback disease.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson will later outline the Government's response to the outbreak.

The fungal infection, which causes leaves to turn black and drop off before the tree eventually dies, is thought to have arrived in Britain on wind-borne spores blown in from mainland Europe.

So far more than 100 cases have been reported across the country, in Sussex, Berkshire, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Bedfordshire, Northumberland, Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent and Essex.

Other countries including France and Belgium have already been hit hard by the tree disease but Denmark has been the worst affected - losing 90% of its ash population.

Ash dieback has been found at 115 sites in the UK

It is feared the disease could have the same impact in Britain as the infamous Dutch Elm epidemic of the 1970s, which wiped out most of the country's elm trees.

There are an estimated 80 million ash trees in Britain - one-third of the entire tree population.

In a bid to contain the epidemic, the importation of ash trees has already been banned and the planting of new ones has also been halted.

Officials have also carried out surveys on acres of forest and woodland.

Signs warning visitors to take extra precautions to stop the spread of ash dieback have been posted at several National Trust sites, including Ashridge, Hertfordshire.

Ashridge has hundreds of ash trees in its 5,000 acres of woodland. The site is popular with walkers taking in the magnificent countryside - especially in the autumn.

It has also been the setting for several films, including Sleepy Hollow and Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.

Some of these ash saplings in Suffolk are infected with the disease

Graeme Cannon, Ashridge Estate manager, told Sky News: "It's potentially very dangerous. Ashridge is here because ash trees feature very prominently in its background and they have done for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

''With ash dieback in the country we'll end up in a situation where we will be losing a lot of our trees and they are an important feature of the British landscape and woodland.

"So far we have not had any confirmed cases in Ashridge but if we do then the impact would be catastrophic.''

Mr Cannon said several of the ash trees were more than 200 years old. ''Although it seems to be impacting younger trees, we would hate to lose those veteran ash," he said.

Infected saplings have been burned to contain the spread, but visitors to woods are also being asked to do their bit by keeping to marked paths to help reduce the spread of infected leaves.

They are also being advised to clean footwear and bike and car tyres of mud and earth when they get home.

Although the Government claims it has acted as swiftly as it could, there has been some criticism that the response has not been quick enough.

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