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Ash Dieback Disease

Chalara dieback of ash is a serious disease of ash trees caused by a fungus called Chalara fraxinea (C. fraxinea). The disease causes leaf loss and crown dieback in affected trees, and usually leads to tree death.

C. fraxinea is being treated as a quarantine pest under national emergency measures, and it is important that suspected cases of the disease are reported. If you think you have spotted the disease, you should first check the symptom spotting video and other guidance on the Forestry Commission’s website.

Chalara helpline: 08459 33 55 77 (open 8am - 6pm every day) or plant.health@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

The disease was first spotted in the UK in February 2012 when it was found in a consignment of infected trees sent from a nursery in the Netherlands to a nursery in Buckinghamshire. Since then it has been found in a number and variety of locations in Great Britain. All these sites had received stocks of young ash plants from nurseries within the past five years. Further cases have also been confirmed in the nursery trade.

In October 2012, Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) scientists confirmed a small number of cases in East Anglia in ash trees at sites in the wider natural environment, including established woodland, which do not appear to have any association with recently supplied nursery stock. Further similar finds were confirmed in Kent, Essex and other counties in early November 2012.