By Rhonda Massad
The Laval Regional Environmental Council (ERC) will hold a roundtable on the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB), April 23. The exercise will be held during Earth Week to review the ash tree crisis on Ile de Jésus.
Three panelists Pierre Desrochers Canadian Forest Service; Alain Paquette, associate researcher at the Centre for Forestry Studies at UQAM; and Daniel Boyer, forestry engineer of Laval’s public works department will be on hand to talk about short, medium and long-term solutions as well as answer questions.
Last September, the City of Laval confirmed the presence of the EAB in its territory. Inspectors found the insect in 34 of 66 traps they had installed. Prior to that, in August 2012, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed that it caught the bug in one of its traps in Laval des Rapides.
The city detected a strong presence of the insidious insect in Gagné, Montceau, Bizet, Coccinelles, Christos-Karigiannis and Bigras parks as well as along the border of Trieste Street.
The city preventively treated 250 ash trees with the relatively new pesticide TreeAzin in the summer of 2014. It plans to do the same to another 1,000 trees this summer.
TreeAzin, determined a pesticide by the Pesticide Management Regulatory Agency, is the most widely used product available in Canada; it is produced by the BioForest company from the neem tree seeds.
Since TreeAzin kills insects indiscriminately. Not only will EAB larvae be affected, other insects feeding on the treated tree.
Last winter the city felled some 1,000 ash trees that were in poor health.
Laval boasts 5,000 public ash trees and estimates about the same number on private land.
The roundtable will take place at 7 p.m., April 23, at Pavillon du Boisé Papineau 3235 St. Martin Boulevard East. Space is limited. For information and to RSVP consult the event, Facebook page at Table ronde sur l’agrile du frêne.
The roundtable will take place at 7 p.m., April 23, at Pavillon du Boisé Papineau 3235 St. Martin Boulevard East. Space is limited. For information and to RSVP consult the event, Facebook page at Table ronde sur l’agrile du frêne.
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Emerald ash borer