Under threat (Image: Carol Sharp/Eye Ubiquitous/Rex Features)
WE NEED better ash. To combat the fungus that is killing ash trees in the UK, government scientists are counting on .
A new survey suggests may have been in the UK for several years, despite only being spotted in the wild last month. The disease spreads in leaf litter, so destroying infected wild trees will not stop it. Instead, the government will hunt for resistant trees, both in the UK and in mainland Europe, where the disease originated.
“By next spring, we could have resistant forms of ash growing in this country,” says , chief scientist at the UK’s .
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The government is also identifying and destroying infected trees and saplings in nurseries, and imports have been banned for now. About 100,000 nursery trees have already been destroyed.
