27 JUNE 2007 NEWS RELEASE No: 9339

The Forestry Commission has suspended the planting of Corsican pine - an important timber-producing tree – in the forests it manages because of the extent and severity of red band needle blight disease.

The moratorium will last for five years while further research into the disease is carried out.

The Commission will continue, for the time being, to make grant aid available to the private forestry sector to plant Corsican pine, and will continue to honour existing grant contracts for planting and restocking with it. However, it will advise private-sector forest managers applying for grants to use Corsican pine about the dangers of red band needle blight, it will fund planting only where it believes there is a reasonable prospect of the trees remaining free of infection, and it will keep the grants position under review.

Current quarantine controls applying to tree nurseries are being maintained. These require infected stock to be destroyed, and other pine species at the same nursery may not be moved until they have been found to be free of infection for one full growing cycle, which may be up to two years following first detection. The only exception is Scots pine, which may be moved if its place of production is clearly separated from infected parts of the nursery

Corsican pine (Pinus nigra ssp. Laricio) is an important softwood timber species grown in many parts of Britain, particularly in southern Britain.

In Britain, red band needle blight is caused by the fungus Dothistroma septosporum. When it infects certain species of pine it can seriously reduce growth and timber yield, and in severe cases it can cause trees to die.

The Commission's decision to suspend planting of Corsican pine on its own land for five years while it researches and reviews the impact of the disease follows a Great Britain-wide survey of the problem last year (2006). As part of the process, forest management techniques to minimise the impact of the disease are being investigated, along with the option of planting alternative species.

Part of the research and monitoring will look at potential future impacts on other economically important pine species, particularly lodgepole pine, and at what advice the Commission should give to forest managers.

Stephen Smith, the Commission's assistant operations manager for England, said,

"Unfortunately, it appears that red band needle blight could be here to stay.

"Although the worst affected area is the East of England, where more than 70 per cent of Corsican pine trees are thought to be infected, the disease has also been identified on Corsican pine in all parts of England and in parts of Wales and Scotland.

"The disease was also found on a number of other pine species, including lodgepole pine.

"Stopping planting of Corsican pine is a big decision for us, especially in the south and east of England, because our pine forests are an important public resource and provide valuable timber for industry.

"The disease presents a major challenge to our forest management, and we will be putting all our efforts into minimising the impact on existing forests through regular and thorough thinning to create a more open woodland canopy to reduce the humid conditions in which the fungus thrives.

"It is particularly unfortunate that the disease has arrived now, because climate change models from Forest Research had indicated that Corsican pine is a species ideally suited to thrive over the coming decades, with an expanded range across Britain.

"We are working closely with colleagues in Forest Research on a programme of research and monitoring to find out what further steps we can take to minimise and manage the impact.

"Fortunately, we have been able to draw on best practice in dealing with this disease in other countries, such as Canada and New Zealand.

"We have destroyed all our nursery stock that was identified as potentially infected, and we will grow alternative species for replanting our forests over the next few years.”

Dr Anna Brown from Forest Research, the Commission's scientific research agency, added:

"We have drawn up guidance to help forest managers identify the disease, and we are carrying out research to aid management of it. This includes improving our understanding of the biology of the fungus, the susceptibility of alternative species, and the implications of changes to forest management.

"We will continue to carry out an annual monitoring survey to learn more about the progression of the disease in Britain."

Dr Brown added that, fortunately, Britain's native Scots pine - important as a landscape feature and timber-producing species in many areas – is little affected and appears to have a natural resistance to the disease. Other principal conifer species, such as Sitka spruce, Norway spruce, Douglas fir and larch, are also unaffected and can be planted as alternatives to Corsican pine on suitable sites.

Trees infected by red band needle blight initially display yellow/tan bands and spots on the needles, which turn red. Needle ends then turn reddish brown whilst the bases remain green. The infected needles are shed in late summer, leaving the branches with only tufts of foliage – known as “lions' tails” - at the ends

The fungus is worst in areas and years of high spring and summer rainfall, because it thrives on humid conditions in the forest canopy. There is evidence that the severity of the disease can be reduced by thinning the trees to allow greater air movement in the canopy to reduce humidity.

Forestry Commission Information Note 49 about red band needle blight is available for downloading from the Commission's website at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/publications. Information about the research programme is available on the Forest Research website, http://www.forestry.gov.uk/fr/infd-6zckae. A full Q & A is available at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-74jjfk

Further information is also available from the Commission's Conservancy offices - for contact details, visit http://www.forestry.gov.uk/contacts or telephone 0845 FORESTS (0845 367 3787).

NOTES TO EDITOR:

1. Pictures of trees affected by red band needle blight are available from the media contact below.
2. The origin of red band needle blight is uncertain, although it has been suggested as either the Himalayas or South America.
3. 'Softwood' is the timber from, mostly, conifer trees (trees that have cones and needles) and is so called because it is literally softer and less dense than 'hardwood', which is produced mostly by broadleaved trees (trees that have leaves rather than needles), such as oak and ash.
4. Corsican pine (Pinus nigra ssp. laricio), a native of southern European countries such as Italy, France and Spain, is the principal softwood timber tree species grown in the warmer, drier conditions of eastern and southern England, particularly in the East of England. The principal softwood species grown in the cooler, wetter conditions of northern and western Britain is Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis), a native of western Canada and northwestern USA. Lodegpole pine (Pinus contorta ssp. latifolia), another native of northwestern North America, is grown in many parts of Great Britain, particularly on sites with poor soils where other species would not grow as well. It is becoming increasingly popular as a Christmas tree.

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Jo Fowler, 01223 346034, mobile 07833 672903