New Ash Dieback Cases Confirmed

New cases of the tree disease ash dieback have been found in a sheltered area'' set up to halt its spread to mature woodlands.

The large area in the western Highlands was designated in 2013 by the Forestry Commission and has been monitored by experts for the chalara infection, but cases have now been found in three areas.

All around Oban, two of the locations where the disease has recently been confirmed are in Morvern while the third is in Glen Nant, a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Nature Reserve.

With more cases expected to be found, environment minister Dr Aileen McLeod has called for a review of the action plan drawn up two years ago to halt the spread of dieback.

Dr McLeod said: The sheltered area's comparative remoteness offered some prospect of delaying the arrival of the disease but, regrettably, this now appears not to have been the case.

I have asked Forestry Commission Scotland to review the chalara action plan, with advice from the Scottish Tree Health Advisory Group, to assess what more can be done to promote adaptive action and to consider the appropriateness of current actions within the sheltered and buffer areas.''

The infection is spread by airborne spores and at present no mature trees in the wood have tested positive for chalara.

Ash dieback was first recorded in Poland in 1992 but the cause was only fully identified in 2010.

It was found in England in the spring of 2012 and Scotland in August of the same year, leading to thousands of trees being chopped down.