Charles: Killer disease could wipe out millions of trees
PRINCE Charles has warned that millions of Britain’s trees could soon be ravaged by one of the world’s most deadly plant diseases.
Adding his voice to fears raised recently by the Royal Horticultural Society, Charles said Xylella fastidiosa could decimate our broadleaf trees.
The oak, elm, plane and sycamore, as well as popular garden plants including lavender, rosemary and oleander are all at risk as the bug restricts their ability to draw water from the soil.
In December the RHS said householders and garden centres should not buy plants grown abroad to prevent the bacterial disease reaching Britain.
Now Charles has issued a ‘call to arms’ at a private Highgrove summit for horticulture and forestry industry experts to plan how to tackle the bug which covers leaves in brown ‘scorch’ marks and can kill more than 350 species of plants. In an impassioned speech he likened the threat from Xylella, which has already wiped out more than a million trees in southern Europe, to ash dieback, the fungus ravaging Britain’s ash trees.
Xylella is considered so deadly because it attacks such a wide range of tree species.
But when gardening expert Alan Titchmarsh, who chaired the Highgrove discussion, asked over 100 delegates who could identify the disease on a plant only one hand went up.
The event at Charles’s Gloucestershire estate earlier this month was sponsored by the RHS, the National Trust, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Woodland Heritage and the Duchy of Cornwall. Other speakers included Environment Secretary Michael Gove.
According to the European Commission dangerous Xylella diseases is one in of the the world. most Geraint Richards, who manages 1,700 hectares of woodland for the Duchy of Cornwall, said: ‘Xylella would be a major worry if it came here because it has a wide and relentless appetite for so many different species. ‘In his speech, the Prince of Wales referred to diseases he has witnessed in his lifetime from Dutch elm disease through to ash dieback. He is desperately concerned that we find a way to control this onslaught of disease.’
Mr Gove told delegates that failure to act would be like ‘sawing off the branch on which we sit’.
The European Commission has already agreed to his call for more checks on high- risk plants as they are moved between countries to try to halt the march of the disease. Delegates recommended setting up a cross-industry body to monitor plant biosecurity strategy.
Another proposal was a public awareness campaign at airports to warn holidaymakers not to bring back any kind of plant materials, particularly from Europe.