Efforts to reduce the population of an insect that is harmful to trees have proven to be successful on the province’s west coast.
Spruce budworms are pests that can cause serious damage to forests, as they feed on fir and spruce trees.
Dr. Joe Bowden, a research scientist with Natural Resources Canada in Corner Brook, says the insects undergo an explosion in their population once every 35-40 years.
The last time that happened in Newfoundland was the early 1970s to the mid-80s. One million hectares of spruce/fir forest was destroyed, which was about 75 per cent of the entire forest affected by the insect.
Quebec has been dealing with an outbreak for the last 15 years.
Bowden says we have seen a rise in budworm numbers on the West Coast in the last number of years.
As part of an Early Intervention Program, over 32,000 hectares of forest was treated on the Great Northern Peninsula last Summer which Bowden says was successful in reducing budworm numbers.
In some beauty stands the last few days, but some areas have seen high defoliation already by #sprucebudworm #newfoundland @coniferlab pic.twitter.com/9V7RIYBiGp
— Joe Bowden (@JoeBowdenNL) October 22, 2020
