Forestry Commission extends beetle pest controls

Landowners and timber processors are being urged to "remain vigilant" after the insect was spotted in East Anglia

The Forestry Commission is to extend its measures to tackle a beetle pest across East Anglia.

The Ips typographus, or larger eight-toothed European spruce bark beetle, is a serious pest of spruce trees in Europe and has been spotted in the region.

Measures introduced in 2022 to the South East will now cover parts of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, as well as Lincolnshire, from 12 June.

Spokesperson Andrea Deol urged landowners and timber processors to "remain vigilant" because "we are now entering the next [beetle] flight season".

It prefers dead, stressed or weakened trees, but can attack healthy trees under the right conditions

The insect is present in spruce trees, especially Norway spruce, in most of Europe and has probably blown into the region.

It was first spotted in the UK in Kent in 2018 and prefers stressed or dying trees, but could attack healthy trees in the right conditions, according to the commission.

The demarcated area was last extended in 2022, covering Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey, City of London, Greater London, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent, Essex and Hampshire.

The movement of susceptible tree material, such as spruce wood, bark and branches, will be restricted.

Woodland managers, landowners and the forestry industry are being urged to remove stressed or weakened spruce and replant with other species to limit potential spread of the beetle.

Ms Deol added: “Following a report of Ips typographus to the Forestry Commission in East Anglia, we conducted a swift investigation including rapid eradication measures, alongside wider environment surveillance to determine the scale of the issue and identify additional suitable management actions."