Trees: British Ash Tree

Debate between Lord Knight of Weymouth and Lord King of Bridgwater

Monday 5th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Lord Knight of Weymouth]

My Lords, the noble Earl, Lord Selborne, is to be congratulated on securing and introducing this important debate so effectively. As others have said, it has been a high-quality debate, even at this late hour. In among the shambles of the Government’s handling of business in this House, it is most welcome that we have time to debate the future of such an important feature of the British landscape.

As others have said, this is a subject that the public care deeply about. We saw that over the forest privatisation proposals and I have seen it in the last 24 hours on this issue. Yesterday morning I tweeted:

“I am speaking in tomorrow’s Lords debate on the future of the British ash tree. What questions do you want me to ask the minister?”.

I have been inundated with responses—the biggest reaction to a single tweet that I have ever had. Having discovered something close to crowd-sourced opposition and direct democracy even in the House of Lords, I will try to base my contribution on what the public have said to me in the last 24 hours.

Several wanted me to focus on action now and into the future. I will try to do this, but I would like first to put on record my understanding of the chronology of the disease in this country. In 2009, as has been said, the Horticultural Trades Association warned that we should have a ban. The Forestry Commission and Defra scientists reflected the latest international scientific opinion of the time that the disease was actually a mutant of a pathogen already endemic in Britain. However, in 2010 the science changed. Chalara fraxinea was identified then as a new pathogen, named Hymenoscyphus pseudoalbidus and, as late as autumn 2011, the Forestry Commission confirmed that Britain was clear of the pathogen. It was then discovered in imported saplings in February this year.

Many correspondents to me want to know why the Government did not ban imports at that point. Why did we have to wait until infection reached trees in the wild? Given that this disease has had such a catastrophic effect on ash trees in continental Europe, should we not have been more sensitive to the threat? Given that, as Defra’s chief plant health officer, Martin Ward, said today:

“Aerial spread does not happen until the summer”,

would it not have been wise to impose the ban at the start of the summer? As Tony Juniper asked me:

“Why were we importing ash trees when there are hundreds of millions in the UK already? Which other native trees are at similar risk?”.

The subject of other species takes us on to the capacity of the Forestry Commission to deal with this threat. The commission’s February 2011 staff consultation document on redundancy, following its 25% cut in funding, said, under high-level risks on page 24:

“There is no capacity to deal with costs of disease or other calamity. (e.g. Phytophthora is currently an unfunded pressure for 2011/12.) Mitigation: ensure full awareness of this loss of capacity”.

Forest Research, which is part of the Forestry Commission, is losing 60 out of a total of 222 staff over the CSR period: a cut of 28%. Thirty-eight of these staff have already gone. I would be interested to know how the Minister squares this with what his ministerial colleague, David Heath, said in the other place: that there had been no cut-back in resources applied to plant health and tree health in this country. The seriousness of this is reinforced in an interesting blog by Gabriel Hemery:

“During 2012 alone tree scientists at Forest Research have had to face an Asian longhorn beetle outbreak, sweet chestnut blight, and ash dieback. This is in addition to oak processionary moth, Phytophthora ramorum in Larch, and acute oak decline that were already big-enough problems to tackle”.

We have also, over the weekend, read of raised concerns that Scots pine is under threat from similar pathogens. Can the Minister give reassurance that not only is there sufficient protection for the scientific resource needed to work on Chalara fraxinea but that it will not be at the expense of our resilience to other disease outbreaks that could potentially arise? I suggest to him that if this is serious enough to convene COBRA last Friday—and it is—then it has the attention of the whole of Government. Now is the very best time to demand more resource from the Treasury to fund the research and monitoring that this crisis needs.

Most other questions relate to the science. Lithuania, where 99% of ash were lost to the disease, has had success in developing resistant strains of ash. Does the import ban apply to resistant strains of the species? Is the further destruction of ash trees in this country going to be sensitive enough, as others have said, to retain those trees displaying a resistance, given that there is considerable diversity in our ash stock? Are the Government instigating an intensive breeding programme of pathogen-resistant trees? Is there a role for genetic modification? What does the science tell us about the spread of the disease? If felled trees are burned, how do we prevent spores spreading through smoke plumes? If the disease has been carried across the North Sea on the wind or by birds, as the Government claim, will washing our boots—or, for that matter, our children—have any effect? If walkers’ biosecurity is a serious risk, will there be provision for the public to disinfect their footwear, as with the foot and mouth outbreak? Finally, would it be sensible, as the noble Lord, Lord King, mentioned, for forests with high numbers of ash trees to be closed to public access?

This is fast developing into a catastrophe for our natural environment. The ash tree is an iconic part of the British landscape and we should all be doing what we can to monitor the disease and follow scientific advice on how best to combat it. At a time when so many of our tree species are under threat, when we increase risk by importing so much horticulture, now is the time to value plant science, invest in urgent research, work with European partners and value expertise. I look forward to the Minister’s reassurance.

[Lord King of Bridgwater]

The noble Lord talked exclusively about the present year and the past year. Has he nothing to say about how it could be that a disease that is well established and was recognised in the continent of Europe some 15 years ago could not be identified, and why the precautionary principle that one would think would be important in these issues and the need to take action were not recognised? Will the noble Lord comment on that, because he is otherwise in danger of making what could have been a valuable contribution appear to be too much party-political?

[Lord Knight of Weymouth]

I am delighted to contribute, although I ran out of time some time ago and it is always amusing to be accused of being party-political by the noble Lord. However, I refer him to an article in the New Scientist, dated 31 October, by Andy Coghlan, in which he talks through the science. It is clear that the science changed in 2010. It is also clear that Ministers were not consulted by officials in 2009. That is something we can discuss at a later date. I am looking forward to the Minister’s reassurances.