£4m to wage war on weevils
IT only measures 15mm – but the pine weevil can be devastating.
Now the body responsible for Scotland’s forests is investing £4 million to try to beat the tiny pest.
Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) is advertising for a specialist to monitor weevils breeding in the stumps of newly felled trees.
The creatures – Hylobius abietis – can destroy seedlings of pine and spruce trees, on which Scotland’s £1 billion timber industry relies.
A spokesman for FLS said: ‘The Hylobius weevil costs the UK forestry sector £5 million in damage each year.’
The problem has been dealt with using pesticides but FLS hopes to pioneer controls that do not rely on chemicals, for example leaving sites unplanted for five years to disrupt weevils’ life cycle.
Paul Munro from FLS added: ‘This procurement bid is inviting businesses to come up with new ideas that we have not used before. We are hoping it will bring forward some potential solutions.’