Chris Elliott investigates the spread of the sinister ash dieback disease, which is threatening thousands of the region’s trees.
IT’S deadly, and it may be heading our way. Ash dieback, which has devastated huge numbers of ash trees in Europe, has turned up in the East of England.
The disease, which causes leaf loss and tree death, has wiped out 90 per cent of Denmark’s ash population and has now spread throughout central Europe. It first appeared in our region at nurseries and recently planted sites, such as car parks and college campuses, but has now also been spotted in the wider woodland environment, in Norfolk and Suffolk – and there are fears it will sweep through Cambridgeshire.
Yesterday, as the crisis deepened, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson imposed a ban on imports of ash into the UK, in a bid to stop the disease spreading. Ash trees make up about 30 per cent of Britain’s wooded landscape and are found in parks as well as in the countryside – and there is concern that they are facing the same fate as the elm, which was devastated by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s.
Cambridgeshire County Council experts are on the lookout for any cases of the outbreak on the county’s extensive agricultural estate, but a spokesman said none had been reported yet. The estate is the biggest in England and Wales, stretching to 35,000 acres (13,500 hectares), with 250 farm tenants.
In Cambridge, the city council’s “tree team” is also on full alert.
Arboricultural officer Kenny McGregor said: “This is a very serious pathogen, just as serious as Dutch elm disease, and we’re very worried that it might turn up in the city. When Dutch elm struck us years ago, streets like Brooklands Avenue, which were lined with elms, lost them all.
“All we can do at the moment is to keep our eyes peeled, but even if the disease appears, we don’t really know yet how best to deal with it.
“East Anglia as a whole has a lot of ash trees, and we have quite a few in Cambridge, such as at Cherry Hinton Hall and Jesus Green.
“If people spot any trees they believe might be infected, they can contact the tree team at the council and we’ll investigate.”
As well as the disastrous impact on the green environment the disease may have, it threatens local wildlife too.
Chris Panter, of the University of East Anglia, said that if ash trees suffer large-scale decline, 60 of the country’s rarest insect species could be at risk of being lost.
He said: “As well as 80 common insects, at least 60 of the rarest insect species in the UK have an association with ash trees – these are mostly rare beetles and flies.
“Ash is also important for many lichens and mosses that grow in its bark, and its seeds are an important food for wood mice.”
Another organisation on standby for any signs of the blight is Cambridge Past Present Future, the environmental charity with stewardship of the ancient woodland at Wandlebury, and at Coton Countryside Reserve.
Carolin Gohler, Cambridge PPF’s chief executive, said: “This is a very concerning situation. We have spoken to the regional headquarters of the Forestry Commission, which is surveying areas around the region, and we’re keeping a close eye on the trees at our green spaces.
“Ash comprises up to 15 per cent of our tree stock at both Coton and Wandlebury. If anyone visiting our sites spots anything unusual, we’d be grateful if they could report it to our team.”
Cambridge’s Botanic Garden also has ash trees. Curator Tim Upson said: “We have about 15 or so species from the US and Asia as well as our native ash. I am not sure if all species of ash are susceptible – but we would start from the premise that they are.
“The potential impact is of course very serious. Ash are important street trees in places, and in parks, but it’s their relatively widespread nature in the wider environment which is most serious.
“There is no cure at the moment, apart from controlling imports, and where there are outbreaks, removal of trees to reduce spread is only realistic on a small scale.”
chris.elliott@cambridge-news.co.uk
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