honduras manages to stall pinemunching bugs march
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
Last Updated : GMT 05:17:37
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

to a plague of bark-munching beetles

Honduras manages to stall pine-munching bugs' march

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice

Emiratesvoice, emirates voice Honduras manages to stall pine-munching bugs' march

woods destroyed by a bark beetle infestation in Siguatepeque
Siguatepeque - Arab Today

Over the past three years, Honduras has lost a quarter of its pine forests to a plague of bark-munching beetles.

Now though, after a long campaign that saw soldiers wielding chainsaws to contain the bug invasion, a little green is growing back.

In mountains north of the capital that were stripped bare, trees replanted by students from the National University's forest sciences department are growing.

The reforestation work started four months ago. The professor leading the students, Oscar Leveron, explained it will be a slow healing of the landscape: it takes 25-30 years for the trees to mature to the heights of the ones lost.

The infestation of the southern pine beetle, whose scientific name is Dendroctonus frontalis, was first detected in 2013.

Its march blighted bigger and bigger swaths of woodland until, a year ago, the exponential spread prompted President Juan Orlando Hernandez to declare a "forest emergency."

The pest has delivered what is considered one of the worst ecological disasters to befall the Central American country.

- Chainsaws vs bugs -

Some experts attributed the massive invasion to a prolonged drought brought on by the El Nino phenomenon felt across the region.

Satellite images show a total 509,000 hectares (1.2 million acres) have been destroyed by the insect since 2013.

The emergency decree allowed authorities to set up task forces of up to 3,500 people deployed in mountains across the country under the supervision of the Forestry Conservation Institute.

Wielding chainsaws, their mission was to cut down infected trees, and healthy ones in a close radius, to prevent the beetles jumping onto new hosts.

The forestry students joined soldiers in chopping down vast areas of the 5,000 hectares (1,300 acres) of pine forest owned by the university.

Traps made of rows of black funnels and pungent resin were hung from shrubs to attract and catch the bugs, which measure no more than four millimeters (0.15 of an inch).

At the worst point of the plague, they found one tree infested with 139,000 of the insects, and a trap contained up to 12,000.

As he helped students collect the bugs inside the plastic devices, Leveron said the ideal is to have "zero in the traps."

He showed one trap that contained two bees and a dozen beetles.

Leveron and authorities from the forestry institute told AFP that the plague "is being controlled." But the woods remain vulnerable to new attacks.

- Dry season risk -

The Forestry Conservation Institute official in charge of fighting back the beetle, Juan Barrios, told AFP that 883 hectares were still infected, with little pockets of up five trees teeming with the insects.

"The plague is under 98 percent control. But the problem is to prevent the dispersion of the outbreaks," he said.

The students and the forestry institute have been using seeds from pine cones to replant the devastated zones, although they believe much of the woodland will eventually regenerate naturally.

But Leveron said the rainy season that started last September helped slow the bugs' advance.

The risk now, he said, was the next dry season might see them expanding again, as the lack of water reduces the trees' production of resin, a natural defense.

Source:  AFP

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

honduras manages to stall pinemunching bugs march honduras manages to stall pinemunching bugs march

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

honduras manages to stall pinemunching bugs march honduras manages to stall pinemunching bugs march

 



GMT 09:54 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

'Friendly and kind' N. Korean skaters

GMT 09:36 2017 Thursday ,07 December

Heidy Karam’s contract to present talk show close

GMT 10:50 2012 Friday ,20 January

Dusty weather expected in UAE on Friday

GMT 09:35 2018 Saturday ,13 January

New Zealand bat first in third ODI against Pakistan

GMT 10:48 2017 Saturday ,23 December

Meryl Streep's brand under threat

GMT 06:53 2017 Thursday ,11 May

17th Doha Forum To Begin Sunday

GMT 10:30 2017 Thursday ,23 November

Reports underline proliferation of weapons in Arab world

GMT 07:46 2017 Monday ,30 October

Catch it early, treat it early and move on

GMT 08:05 2015 Tuesday ,17 February

Conan O'Brien is first late night host to film in Cuba

GMT 16:17 2018 Thursday ,30 August

Five Saudi women pilots granted GACA licences

GMT 06:30 2018 Tuesday ,23 January

Knee surgery delays Pocock's return to Super Rugby

GMT 09:52 2018 Sunday ,21 January

American Coleman breaks 60m indoor world record

GMT 17:20 2018 Tuesday ,16 January

Joe Root lines up for his first IPL auction

GMT 09:46 2017 Monday ,30 January

Results of German first-division soccer league

GMT 13:14 2017 Wednesday ,03 May

Ericsson and Etisalat conduct 5G

GMT 14:00 2018 Saturday ,13 January

Qatar, UAE clash over alleged airspace violation

GMT 07:27 2018 Saturday ,13 January

Trump 'desperate' to undermine nuclear
Emiratesvoice, emirates voice
 
 Emirates Voice Facebook,emirates voice facebook  Emirates Voice Twitter,emirates voice twitter Emirates Voice Rss,emirates voice rss  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube  Emirates Voice Youtube,emirates voice youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

emiratesvoieen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen emiratesvoiceen
emiratesvoice emiratesvoice emiratesvoice
emiratesvoice
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice, Emiratesvoice