Ash Dieback Plant Epidemic

Ash dieback plant epidemic: What is it and what can be done to stop it?

16:39 03 August 2015

Conservationists have issued warning against ash dieback epidemic that could wipe out huge swatches of landscape. Woodland Trust, an environmental group has mapped out trees across England and Wales saying that the tree disease threatens to alter the countryside’s appearance dramatically.

 

In response to the threat, the trust will give away one thousand subsidised “disease recovery packs” that contain “trees specifically to be planted in hedgerows, verges, along field edges, and waterside in the wider landscape.” Each pack contains 45 trees that individuals and organisations can plant.

 

Ashdie back is a fungal disease caused by the fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. Key signs include brown leaves, lesions on stems, white spotted fungi, gre/brow bark and dark wood. The disease can kill plants and trees and can therefore affect wildlife dependent on hedgerows and trees for their habitat.