Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province announces establishment of wide-area control strategy for pine wilt disease

(Jeonju = Yonhap News) Reporter Lim Chae-du = Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province announced on the 22nd that it will prepare a ‘wide area control strategy’ (2027-2031) to manage the occurrence and spread of pine wilt disease in the mid to long term.

According to the province, the number of trees infected with pine wilt disease in the province has increased rapidly from 2,110 trees in 2022 to 16,497 trees as of this year.

As wilt disease is rampant in 13 cities and counties in the province, excluding Jinan, provincial and local governments are cutting down infected trees while also promoting conversion of tree species to economic forests.

The main contents of the wide-area pest control strategy are ▲ preventing the spread of damage to concentrated areas ▲ conserving major pine forests ▲ improving existing pest control methods ▲ setting pest control priorities and appropriate pest control times for each region.

Starting next year, the province will identify the characteristics of damage by region in cities and counties and begin analyzing the causes of the spread.

The goal is to create a provincial-level wide-area control system that is linked to the Forest Service’s national control strategy.

Lee Soon-taek, director of the Provincial Environment and Forestry Bureau, said, “As pine wilt disease is spreading rapidly, it is time for a sophisticated response,” and added, “We will thoroughly establish a wide-area control strategy to ensure that it leads to actual control results.”