OTTAWA, ONTARIO - The presence of emerald ash borers in the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario was confirmed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week - the first find outside of the current regulated areas, which include all of southern Ontario up to Algoma, Nipissing and Greater Sudbury areas as well as counties in Quebec.
Automatic restriction on movement of ash wood go into effect as a result. All ash material such as logs, branches, and wood chips, as well as all species of firewood from the affected site, is now restricted. Other enforcement measures, such as expanding the regulated area, may be implemented once the CFIA completes its survey work before the end of 2016.
Image depicting the S-shaped galleries (or tunnels) found beneath the bark of an ash that has been infested by the emerald ash borer.
Emerald ash borers are a growing blight on the deciduous trees in the eastrn half of North America, with some estimates that the entire population of most ash species will be killed.
"It has already killed millions of ash trees in Ontario, Quebec and the United States, and poses a major economic and environmental threat to urban and forested areas of North America," says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), which is working with the U.S. and local governments to slow its spread.
Native to China and eastern Asia, the emerald ash borer was first confirmed in Canada in 2002 and is considered present in some areas of Ontario and Quebec, areas regulated by the CFIA to protect Canada's forests and nurseries. Moving untreated firewood is a common way for invasive insects and diseases to spread. www.inspection.gc.ca.
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