Re: Ash borers will soon find enemy from within

Dear Editor,

I was very pleased to read in the paper this morning (http://bit.ly/11iFnfJ) that the Federal Government has approved the importation of two parasitic, non-stinging wasp species into Canada to help fight the infestation of emerald ash borer (EAB) beetles, that are destroying ash trees across North America.

The ash tree has long been considered one of the best trees to grow in an urban environment. For this reason, many more ash trees have been planted than any other tree species over the last 50 years in municipalities throughout the United States and Canada, including Ottawa. In Ottawa, ash trees make up 25% of our urban tree canopy. Without a way to stop the emerald ash borer beetle, municipalities have been struggling to come up with effective strategies.

Today's article follows on the heels of another recent article in the Citizen which cited an American study linking the mass destruction of ash trees due to the emerald ash borer to an increase in human respiratory disease deaths in affected American cities (http://bit.ly/17BlXf4). Since 1/4 of Ottawa's urban tree canopy is comprised of ash trees, the emerald ash borer poses a grave health risk to Ottawa's aging population and children who already suffer from asthma and other air born diseases. It is estimated that if nothing more is done to save Ottawa's ashes, we will lose all the ash trees that have not been treated, in the next 5-10 years.

Ottawa simply can't afford to lose this many mature trees from its tree canopy, this quickly. Unfortunately, little has been done by any level of government in Canada to adequately address this problem since the emerald ash borer beetle was first detected in Ottawa in 2008.

Now that we know there is hope to save Ottawa's ash trees and preserve the City's tree canopy, it is incumbent on our political representatives at City Hall, Queen's Park and Parliament Hill to invest more money in TreeAzin treatments (biopesticide used to safeguard ash trees from the EAB) so that we can save as many ash trees as possible before it is too late.

Even though it will still take time for these wasps to halt the emerald ash borer's onslaught, at least we now know there is a permanent solution available. Since It is less expensive to treat ash trees than it is to cut them down and dispose of them, and to pay for the associated health costs that Ontario will soon realize (not to mention the unnecessary suffering Ottawa residents will have to endure if our governments do not step up to the plate), I urge our political representatives to seize this opportunity while we still can.

James O'Grady
Nepean resident