News | Sunday, 05 April 2009

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

Malta loses 310 trees to palm parasite

The infamous red palm weevil, a silent killer of palm trees, was responsible for the felling of 310 palm trees across Malta.
Of these 121 had to be removed from public places, while 189 were removed from private residences.
The most recent measure taken by the government was to create a census of trees by registering them all in order to have a better picture of the situation, as well as take quicker action where necessary.
In Malta, palm trees can cost between €466 (Lm200) to €3,494 (Lm1,500) depending on the size, quality and species.
The weevil has also raised the alarm in Sicily, where it visibly infected some 30,000 of Sicily’s palm trees, prompting the authorities to declare a state of emergency.
This destructive insect – a parasite which lays its eggs inside palm trees, and whose larvae proceed to eat the tree out from the inside – is native to Southern Asia, but spread to Europe and the Mediterranean in the 1980s.
It was first detected in Italy in 2006, and apart from the situation in Sicily, it has since killed up to 3,400 trees in Campania, Puglia, Rome and Lazio. A total of 30% of Lazio’s trees have so far been destroyed, and 5,000 more are currently at risk.
Italy estimates that the value of a 20-metre palm tree can reach €20,000, while the average cost of removing and destroying an infected tree is €1,000.
The University of Florence is currently working on an antidote. The latest attempt has been to study the DNA of the Red Palm Weevil, and reconstruct where it is coming from.

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.