The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is continuing to survey forests and control outbreaks of the EU regulated plant disease Phytophthora ramorum, a fungus like organism that can damage and kill infected trees and plants. Under EU requirements, annual forest surveys for Phytophthora ramorum have been ongoing since 2003. Until last year, there had been no findings on tree species and P. ramorum had only been detected in forest areas on wild invasive rhododendron shrubs. Following the initial findings in Japanese larch in Ireland in July 2010, an extensive national aerial and ground survey was conducted. These forest surveys have now confirmed the disease in Japanese larch at eleven forest locations in five counties.
Japanese larch appears to be particularly susceptible to the disease, affecting all age classes and locally causing significant dieback and deaths. Noble fir, beech and Spanish chestnut growing in close proximity to the infected Japanese larch have also been found to be infected at a number of the sites and it is likely that the Japanese larch is the source of the infection. The infected trees are being removed to prevent the disease spreading.
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