By Abigail Popple, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, RMG
After a population of the invasive emerald ash borer was found in Vancouver, invasive species experts are advising B.C. campers not to take firewood from park to park in an effort to avoid spreading the pest.
Native to east Asia, emerald ash borers are “highly productive and destructive,” says the Invasive Species Council of British Columbia’s Executive Director, Gail Wallin.
“Not all non-native species are bad: crocuses and daffodils aren’t native, but they’re fine because they don’t take over ecosystems,” Wallin told The Goat. “But the emerald ash borer doesn’t have a predator that keeps it in check here in Canada and North America.”
This enables the beetle to wreak havoc on ash tree populations once they take root: according to Natural Resources Canada, up to 99 per cent of ash trees in an area are killed within eight to 10 years of the emerald ash borers’ arrival.
Ash trees are not a native species in western Canada. However, they are a common choice for urban horticulturists, so emerald ash borer populations can damage a city’s greenery, said Wallin.
“When you get communities where thousands of ash trees have been planted to help green the community and the emerald ash borer arrives, that’s a real concern,” she said.
Megan Evans, Executive Director of the Alberta Invasive Species Council, echoed these concerns.
“Ash isn’t a native tree species, but there’s a lot of ash trees in Alberta,” Evans told The Goat. “They are where the people are, so the potential impacts to the (urban) ash forests and the ash canopy that we have are really going to be felt by people.”
Before the recent discovery of emerald ash borers in Vancouver, emerald ash borers were confined to eastern and Atlantic Canada – now, Evans and Wallin worry that the beetle may spread through western Canada.
“Preventing invasive species is the best way to manage them, period,” Evans said. “Everyone’s got a role to play in preventing the spread of invasive species… the way a lot of these forest pests are spread is through firewood, so the messaging here is ‘buy local and burn local, don’t move your firewood.’”
Evans added that species of all types, from insects to fungi, can spread when people take firewood to a new location.
Back in B.C., Wallin and the rest of the Invasive Species Council are also promoting a “Buy Local, Burn Local” campaign to remind residents not to move their firewood. On top of that, Wallin encourages downloading iNaturalist, an app that allows people to upload photos and observations of flora and fauna.
“There’s a program (on iNaturalist) called ‘I spy and identify invasives.’ So sign up for that, it’s free. Report anything – plants, insects, animals – that you think is out of place,” said Wallin. “Emerald ash borer, like many other things, has been found that way. We had an alert citizen who said, ‘This looks odd, let me report it.’”
It’s good that the species was caught early, says Wallin – but B.C. residents should be on high alert to make sure it doesn’t spread further. In that vein, the B.C. Invasive Species Council has a program called “PlayCleanGo,” reminding residents to clean their recreational equipment before moving it to a new area.
“Because of where you’re situated (in the Robson Valley), remember that the emerald ash borer is of concern to all of us in B.C. and Alberta,” Wallin said. “Firewood is one way to move forest pests. The other way we can move invasive species accidentally is when we’re using our ATVs, going camping, or hiking… make sure your tires are clean and your boots are clean so you’re not moving seeds or plants to a new area.”
Everybody in B.C. can do their part to prevent invasive species, Wallin added.
“We’re really strong on recognizing that everybody can be a leader,” she says. “So we have ‘Clean, Drain, Dry,’ for boaters. We have PlayCleanGo for our hikers and people using the land. And we have ‘Buy Local, Burn Local’ for firewood. Those are three simple things that we can do to make a difference in helping prevent the spread of invasive species.”
