Expansion of the emerald ash borer regulated areas into British Columbia

OTTAWA, ON, June 28, 2024 /CNW/ - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has updated its regulated areas for emerald ash borer (EAB - Agrilus planipennis) to include an area in British Columbia, in an effort to slow the insect's spread.

The regulated area in British Columbia includes the City of Vancouver, the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus and the University Endowment Lands (UEL). This is the first expansion of the EAB regulated area in British Columbia.

EAB is most commonly spread through the movement of firewood and other infested ash wood products, although it can also spread by flying up to 10 kilometers.

Effective immediately, ash material (such as logs, branches and woodchips) and all species of firewood cannot be moved outside of the regulated area without permission from the CFIA. If you need to move ash material, please contact your local CFIA office to request written authorization.

Although the EAB poses no threat to human health, it is highly destructive to ash trees. It has already killed millions of ash trees in regulated areas in Canada and the United States and poses a major economic and environmental threat to urban and forested areas of North America.

The CFIA will continue to survey and monitor the spread of this pest in British Columbia and will continue to work with federal, provincial, municipal and First Nations partners and organizations to slow its spread.

If you spot EAB outside regulated areas, report it to the CFIA to help stop the spread.

Quick facts

• EAB primarily destroys ash trees and is not known to attack soft wood species of trees such as pine and spruce.
• EAB is native to China and eastern Asia. Its presence in Canada was first confirmed in 2002 and has since been found in six provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and now British Columbia.
• On March 12, 2024, a suspect EAB larva was collected and confirmed being EAB by the Ottawa Plant Laboratory.
• This is the first detection of an established EAB population west of Manitoba.
• CFIA regulates this pest to protect Canada's forests, municipal trees and nurseries.

Associated links

• Additional information on the emerald ash borer
• Emerald ash borer confirmed in Vancouver, British Columbia - Canada.ca (May 5, 2024)
• Don't move firewood

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SOURCE Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)