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YOU will have probably heard of the pesky, little bug Ips typographus. Otherwise known as the eight-toothed spruce bark beetle it has wreaked havoc on forestry plantations on the continent and has the potential to do the same in the UK.
2024 has not been kind to the country when it comes to Ips. Not only was it discovered in Wales for the first time (meaning it has been found in all three nations of mainland Britain), but it was also observed on Sitka spruce, one of the key species in British forestry. Then, in an unexpected move, the Forestry Commission took the step of banning spruce planting in large swathes of Southern and Eastern England.
Not a lot of it makes for pretty reading for foresters. But maybe it should.
That's perhaps the argument being put forward by one of the country's top officials – responsible for eradicating the pest – who, in an exclusive interview with Forestry Journal, concluded that the UK is “heading in the right direction” when it comes to Ips.
Andrea Deol, who heads up efforts to wipe out the potentially devastating beetle, believes the current approach is “effective”, with previous outbreaks of the insect pest having been quelled by the Forestry Commission and its partners.
Andrea, the FC's head of plant health, forestry, said: “We first detected Ips in 2018 [in Kent]. Since then, we have had a number of outbreaks and have to look at our success in terms of dealing with those outbreaks.
“We are having an impact. We are being successful in eradicating the beetle from those sites where we are finding it.
“We are heading in the right direction. It is about us working together and working in collaboration."
Four key questions
Will any applications that have already been approved and include spruce in the DMA be fulfilled?
“Anyone who has had an agreement in place that contains spruce prior to the introduction of the prohibition needs to speak to the Forestry Commission. We will talk to them and discuss other suitable alternatives.”
What alternative species would you recommend?
“We have to look at a whole host of different factors. You will probably forgive me when I don’t name a particular species because there are just a range of factors to consider."
What does the future hold for commercial conifer planting in southern England?
“In terms of the prohibitions we have introduced in the DMA, they are in response to specific risks associated with Ips typographus. More broadly, we know our trees are facing a range of pressures. We have to think about ways in which we can adapt our woodlands and our planting choices to increase the diversity."
Given Ips is arriving directly from the continent (the ‘blow-over’ theory), is it even possible to prevent future outbreaks?
“It is all to do with population dynamics that we see on the continent. It has gotten to pandemic levels in continental Europe, which is leading to the incursions here. That will die off once there isn’t the material to sustain those beetles. What we are dealing with now is high population levels and the incursion risks."
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