Scientists estimate that in 5 years there will be less than 5 per cent living ash trees in Southern and Eastern Ontario.
At a recent municipal education meeting in London, scientists concluded that the spread of the Emerald Ash Borer is out of control and they can’t stop it.
EAB is an exotic beetle that was discovered in southeastern Michigan near Detroit in the summer of 2002.
The larvae feed on the inner bark of ash trees, disrupting the tree’s ability to transport water and nutrients.
Environmentalist and Parks Manager for the town of Goderich Martin Quinn, says they have now found the beetle in otherwise healthy ash trees outside of the pest’s typical hot spots.
They found it in a number of trees as far away as Toronto.
EAB was identified in Goderich last year.
Quinn says it’s about two years earlier then he suspected.
Now the town will be monitoring the infestation by setting up traps to identify where they see flying adults.
Through years of research, Quinn says scientists have learned that by the time you see EAB, it’s already been in the tree for two years.
In Bayfield, EAB was confirmed in 2008.
One of the causes of the rapid spread is through the movement of ash firewood.
People in Lambton and Huron county are restricted from transporting ash materials across county lines.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has 12 regions/counties in Ontario that are under the same restrictions.
They estimate that EAB has Killed tens of millions of ash trees throughout the United States, Ontario and Quebec.
So far, there have been no confirmed cases of EAB in Bruce and Grey.