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Gironde: forests infested by pest insects, bark beetles
Gironde: forests infested by pest insects, bark beetles – (FranceInfo)
In Gironde, forests are infested by harmful insects, bark beetles. As a result, many pine trees have to be cut down. A new hard blow, after the violent fires of 2022.
In Gironde, a pine tree is infested. He’s going to have to be put down. The cause is the bark beetle, this small insect infiltrates between the bark and the wood to lay larvae which then dig galleries. For foresters, the race against time has begun. Infected trunks must be felled and evacuated as quickly as possible to avoid contagion. Along a track, freshly sawn logs are already piling up by the thousands.
4,000 m3 of wood evacuated
A double punishment after the fires which destroyed several hectares of forest in the summer of 2022 and which transformed it into a prime target for these pest insects. The bark beetle primarily attacks pines weakened by flames. Today, on some plots, there are only a few trees still standing.
“The landscape is more than apocalyptic, it is incredibly violent. Unfortunately, the used forest has already paid a heavy price. (…) Unfortunately there will be no more much keep”regrets Matthieu Cabousselrepresentative of the general trustee of the user forest of La Teste-de-Buch. So far, more than 4,000 m3 of wood have been evacuated.