Oakville treats over 3,000 ash trees for emerald ash borer

The town of Oakville is waging war against a tiny but destructive insect.

More than three-thousand ash trees have been treated for the emerald ash borer this summer, bringing the two-year total to 57-hundred.

Officials say the bio-insecticide that has been used provides two years of protection before it has to be reapplied.

Mayor Rob Burton says the effort has saved 75 per cent of the public ash canopy but the remaining 25 per cent are too far gone.

“Oakville has the most aggressive EAB workplan in the country,” said Mayor Rob Burton. “We’re able to treat about 75 per cent of the ash canopy located on streets and in parks because we implemented an early detection program that enabled us to act quickly to fight against the infestation. Council will continue to work towards increasing our canopy cover over the coming years, and strengthening our urban forest’s capacity to deal with invasive species like EAB.”

Officials say the dead trees will be replaced in the coming years.

“The town plans to replace dead or dying trees with a new species of tree to meet Oakville’s canopy cover objective of 40 per cent by 2057,” said Chris Mark, director, Parks and Open Space.

Experts say the emerald ash borer has killed at least 50 to 100-million ash trees across North America since it was introduced from Asia in the 1990’s.

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