Statistics regarding outbreaks of tree diseases since 2016: EIR release

Information requested

1. How many outbreaks of tree diseases has there been in the years of 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021?

2. What tree diseases were causing the outbreaks in the years of 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021?

3. What prevention measures did the Scottish Government introduce or recommend when there was outbreaks in the years of 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

In response to your questions 1 & 2 we have replied to both these questions in matrix format using the table below. Hopefully this is clear, however in considering this information please be aware of the following clarifications:

• Scottish Forestry can only supply figures for ‘outbreaks’ that we have been formally made aware of.
• Scottish Forestry only record details of ‘notifiable’ diseases (not all diseases are notifiable however where SF have been made aware of an outbreak then these have been included in the table below).
• The definition used is that an ‘outbreak is deemed to be a new, single incident of infection or interception (not the number of SPHN’s issued as these can cover more than one incidence).
• There will be caveats in relation to 2020 (and 2021) in particular due to Covid 19 restrictions.
• All figures for 2021 are ‘to date’ as this work continues.

Tree disease	Notifiable Quarantine Organism?	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	Total number of outbreaks over the period;	Host species
Phytophthora ramorum	Yes	126	232	571	415	621	598	2563	Host species breakdown: 2243 Larch; 285 Rhododendron; 25 Sitka spruce; 2 Notofagus, 4 Douglas Fir, 1 Sequoia; 1 Vaccinium, I Quercus, 1 Araucaria araucana
Phytophthora foliorum	No	1						1	Rhododrendron
Phytophthora plurivora	No	2	3					5	Rhododrendron
Phytophthora pseudosyringae	Yes		1					1	Rhododrendron
Phytophthora kernoviae	Yes			4				4	Rhododrendron
Phytophthora austrocedri	Yes	2						2	Juniper
Elatobium	No				8			8	Norway spruce
Phythium	No	2						2	Rhododrendron
Dothistroma needle blight (DNB)*	No	1						1	Lodgepole pine. *NB: DNB is notifiable only when in a nursery environment. It is accepted as being widespread on pine across Scotland, despite this single record.
Sirococcus tsugae	No	1						1	Cedrus sp.
Neonectria spp.	No					3		3	1 Abies nordmanniana, 2 Sitka spruce,
Neonectria fuckeliana	No						2	2	Sitka spruce
Neonectria neomacrospora	No						3	3	1 Abies Nebrodensis, 1 Abies sibirica, 1 Abies lasiocarpa
Hymenoscyphus fraxineus	Yes	15	58	34	24	43	22	196	Fraxinus
Phytophthora lateralis	Yes		2					2	Cypress
Total								2794

In response to your question 3:
In terms of preventative measures, on behalf of the Scottish Government and as part of our effort to manage tree health on an ongoing basis, Scottish Forestry:

• Works with partners to understand the biology of pests and diseases and learn how to combat or live with them. Via the Scottish Tree Health Advisory Group such partners include; Confor, Forest Research, Forestry and Land Scotland, Scottish Government, NatureScot and Institute of Chartered Foresters as well as Scottish Forestry. Scottish Forestry’s Tree Health Team, along with the Scottish Government Plant Health Team and Scotland’s Chief Plant Health Officer, are part of the UK Plant Health Service, ensuring an integrated, cross-border approach to tree and plant health management.
• Undertake annual aerial surveillance of Scotland's woodlands to spot early signs of tree health issues, and follow this up with ground surveys and diagnostic testing.
• Help to inform importers and exporters of the relevant regulations and restrictions in relation to tree insect and pathogen pests.
• Issue Statutory Plant Health Notices requiring that woodland owners act to contain or slow down outbreaks when discovered.
• Provide targeted plant health grants where it is in the public interest to do so.
• Encourage the reporting of signs of infections via Tree Alert.
• Encourage everyone to take appropriate biosecurity measures and Keep it Clean.

More specifically:
Phytophthora ramorum and ash dieback remain the highest profile tree health issues in Scotland, and Action Plans for them remain under regular review.

A formal review of the Scottish Forestry P. ramorum on larch action plan was carried out over the winter of 2020/21. The revised Scottish Forestry Phytophthora ramorum action plan was published in June 2021.

Guidance on the management of ash dieback in Scotland was reviewed and published in 2021; Scottish Forestry - Ash dieback in Scotland.

Scottish Forestry (SF) maintains a Pest Free Area (PFA) in line with International Standards for Phytosanitary Measures (ISPM) and this was reviewed and published in 2021 thus maintaining the status of the conifer bark beetle PFA of a large area of western Scotland, as free from D. micans (and a number of other bark beetles) enabling the trade of conifer round wood to the island of Ireland. More information on this PFA and the procedures that underpin it can be found here.

There is a recurring annual programme of surveillance carried out by the Scottish Forestry operational tree health team directly and this is indicatively shown in the following table (Annex A).

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI - 202100254584 - Information Released - Annex A

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