The team said that based on the statistics, the bark beetle calamity in the Usti Region is on the decline. Photo credit: KK / Brno Daily.
Usti nad Labem, May 19 (CTK) – The bark beetle calamity in the Usti nad Labem Region is receding, with the worst situation remaining in the Decin district and local outbreaks also in the Chomutov district, the regional bark beetle calamity team said in a statement published on the region’s website today.
Given the current warm weather, experts expect the bark beetle to emerge within a few days or a few weeks at most.
Lubomira Mejstrikova (ANO), deputy governor of the Chomutov district, said the region was unable to bring the pest under control due to complicated property relations and the inconsistency of farmers.
The team said that based on the statistics, the bark beetle calamity in the Usti Region is on the decline. “Nevertheless, it should be stressed that despite the reduction in the number of areas affected by bark beetle and the amount of harvested bark beetle wood, the numbers are still high,” read the report from the team, which comprises representatives of the local authority, state administration, entities and organisations working in the forestry, environmental, industrial and transport sectors.
Last year, the state-run Czech Forests Enterprise processed 9.2 million cubic metres of wood, of which 2.9 million was bark beetle wood, the lowest amount since 2017.
The bark beetle calamity in Czech forests broke out in 2018. In the Usti Region, it significantly affected the České Švýcarsko (Bohemian Switzerland) National Park. The European spruce bark beetle destroyed a significant proportion of the spruce trees, while others were destroyed by the largest fire in the Czech Republic’s history last summer.
