Sudden Oak Death Moves to Wales

Spores of the fungus-like organism commonly known as "sudden oak death" have spread across the Bristol Channel to south Wales, said the commission. In 2009, Japanese larch trees in south west England were found to be infected. The Forestry Commission confirmed the pathogen had spread to south Wales, probably carried as spores in rain, mist and air currents across the Bristol Channel.

The organism, Phytophthora ramorum, gets its common name because it kills many of the trees and plants that it infects, the commission explained. It was first identified eight years ago on a viburnum plant at a garden centre and has since infected shrubs including rhododendrons, viburnums and bilberries.

Last year's outbreak made south west England the only place in the world where it has attacked large numbers of commercially grown conifer species. The infection has been confirmed in Japanese larch trees in woodland managed by Forestry Commission Wales in the Afan Valley near Port Talbot, in Garw Valley near Bridgend, and the Vale of Glamorgan.

The Forestry Commission expects to find wider infection as it begins ground inspections in areas where aerial surveys have raised suspicions.

Mr. Burgess, head of the commission's plant health service, said it and its partner organizations had moved quickly in 2002 to deal with the infection to try to prevent it from spreading.

"Given the damage it has caused elsewhere, we were very concerned when Phytophthora ramorum turned up in Britain," he said.

He said most of the infected trees in south west England had been felled before this year's new needles formed and new spores could be produced.