Andong conducts zone-specific control operations to curb the spread of pine wilt disease. [Andong city]
Andong conducts zone-specific control operations to curb the spread of pine wilt disease. [Andong city]

Andong, in North Gyeongsang Province, is rolling out a zone-by-zone pine wilt disease control program to halt the spread of the disease and minimize damage to its forests.

The city announced Sunday that it will divide its forests into four zones — severely affected areas, lightly affected areas, key management areas and spread-prevention management areas — and carry out tailored control projects from the second half of this year through the first half of next year.

In severely affected areas, the city plans to convert tree species across 100 hectares and remove 10,000 hazardous dead trees along roadsides and near residential zones. In lightly affected areas, it will treat 30,000 individual trees and administer preventive trunk injections across 100 hectares.

Key management areas will see intensive thinning across 100 hectares, preventive trunk injections across 150 hectares and individual treatment of 10,000 trees. In spread-prevention management areas, the city plans to treat 20,000 individual trees and apply preventive trunk injections across 50 hectares.

Alongside this, the city will conduct drone-based control operations over 200 hectares, administer pine needle gall midge preventive injections across 50 hectares and remove 10,000 fumigation piles from within the forests.

"Pine wilt disease spreads rapidly, so multiple control methods must be used in tandem," a city official said. "We will suppress the spread as much as possible through tailored control measures suited to each type of damage, and over the long term build a forest ecosystem resilient against both pests and wildfires."


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com