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Ash Dieback breakout in the Borders

A tree health officer is being employed in the Scottish Borders to record cases of Ash Dieback, a deadly disease. The Forestry Commission hope to use land surveys to shape policy on how to deal with the spread of the disease.

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Tree Health Officer tackles deadly disease

A Tree Health Officer has been employed by the Forestry Commission to tackle a deadly disease that has wiped out forests in Europe.

Steve Morgan has been recording instances of Ash Dieback in the South of Scotland. Jenny Longden went to meet him.

How to spot Ash Dieback

Diamond shaped legions in a tree with Ash Dieback Credit: ITV Border

Members of the public are being asked to help a Tree Health Officer to record instances of Ash Dieback in the South of Scotland.

Steve Morgan is surveying the region for the disease, which kills Ash trees.

Among the symptoms are:

  • Discolouration of tree trunk
  • Diamond shaped lesions in bark
  • Leaf loss
  • Crown dieback

Anyone looking to report suspected cases of ash dieback can report it at http://www.forestry.gov.uk/

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Tree Health Officer brought in to target Ash Dieback

Steve Morgan has been tasked with recording instances of Ash Dieback in the region. Credit: ITV Border

A tree health officer is being employed in the Scottish Borders to record cases of a deadly disease.

Steve Morgan has been tasked with recording instances of Ash Dieback in the region.

The Forestry Commission hope to use land surveys to shape policy on how to deal with the spread of the disease.

It was first discovered in the UK in 2012 but Steve Morgan says it's currently unclear how widespread it is.

What we are finding with the surveys so far is that there is no rhyme nor reason or logic to the disease in terms of levels of infection, how many trees are infected in a stand.

We simply don't know how widespread it is yet, and how the disease is going to progress. In Europe it can hit some of the stands and really hit them quite severely. We are in a very infancy stage. We are in a research stage of finding out".

– Steve Morgan, tree health officer
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