Efforts to tackle the significant threat from Phytophthora ramorum and Phytophthora kernoviae have received a 'major boost' according to the National Trust.
The Government is today announced plans to spend £25m over the next five years on a programme of work to help tackle these two plant diseases which have already affected gardens across the UK.
Mike Calnan, Head of Gardens & Parks at the National Trust, said:
'This new Government money is a much needed boost to efforts to tackle these two plant diseases. If unchecked, they could potentially have a devastating effect on plants in gardens and the countryside across the UK. The funds will support an essential targeted programme of work, including research and the co-ordination of physical efforts, such as removal of Rhododendron ponticum, to eradicate the diseases.'
'This is the start of a programme of action which needs to inject a new sense of urgency into tackling this worrying disease.'
Joint working with Defra over recent months has led to the National Trust developing improved bio-security standards at all 200 of its gardens - including making sure that plants come from disease-free sources and that they are quarantined on arrival. Hi-tech propagation techniques are also helping the National Trust to secure the future of its most important plant collections threatened by these diseases.
Outbreaks of Phytophthora kernoviae and more recently Phytophthora ramorum have also been discovered at a number of countryside sites on plants such as bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), a native plant of UK heathland. Many heathland sites are notified as SSSIs, so its loss could have an as yet unknown effect on their ecology.
Mike Calnan added: 'This funding has come at a critical moment, when we all need to step up a gear in the fight against these two virulent diseases. The future of UK gardens and countryside, which are admired the world over, depend on everyone’s ability to work in partnership to control the spread of this serious disease.'
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