OTTAWA,
ON, June 28, 2024 /CNW/ - The Canadian Food
Inspection Agency (CFIA) has updated its regulated areas for
emerald ash borer (EAB - Agrilus planipennis) to include an
area in British Columbia, in an
effort to slow the insect's spread.
The regulated area in British
Columbia includes the City of
Vancouver, the University of British
Columbia (UBC) campus and the University Endowment Lands
(UEL). This is the first expansion of the EAB regulated area in
British Columbia.
EAB is most commonly spread through the movement of firewood and
other infested ash wood products, although it can also spread by
flying up to 10 kilometers.
Effective immediately, ash material (such as logs, branches and
woodchips) and all species of firewood cannot be moved outside of
the regulated area without permission from the CFIA. If you need to
move ash material, please contact your local CFIA office to request
written authorization.
Although the EAB poses no threat to human health, it is highly
destructive to ash trees. It has already killed millions of ash
trees in regulated areas in Canada
and the United States and poses a
major economic and environmental threat to urban and forested areas
of North America.
The CFIA will continue to survey and monitor the spread of this
pest in British Columbia and will
continue to work with federal, provincial, municipal and First
Nations partners and organizations to slow its spread.
If you spot EAB outside regulated areas, report it to
the CFIA to help stop the spread.
Quick facts
- EAB primarily destroys ash trees and is not known to attack
soft wood species of trees such as pine and spruce.
- EAB is native to China and
eastern Asia. Its presence in
Canada was first confirmed in 2002
and has since been found in six provinces: Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Quebec,
Ontario, Manitoba, and now British Columbia.
- On March 12, 2024, a suspect EAB
larva was collected and confirmed being EAB by the Ottawa Plant
Laboratory.
- This is the first detection of an established EAB population
west of Manitoba.
- CFIA regulates this pest to protect Canada's forests, municipal trees and
nurseries.
Associated links
- Additional information on the emerald ash borer
- Emerald ash borer confirmed in Vancouver, British Columbia -
Canada.ca (May 5, 2024)
- Don't move firewood
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SOURCE Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)