Wales Rally GB under threat
publication date: Jul 6, 2010
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author/source: Robin Roberts
Wales Rally GB is under threat this year due to a tree disease.
Event organisers will hold a meeting with Forestry Commission Wales staff tomorrow to consider implications for this year’s round of the WRC in November.
The event is scheduled to run through Forestry Commission managed land across south Wales which has been affected by the recent outbreak of the tree disease caused by the Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum) infection.
P. ramorum can be spread by tree needles and soil clinging to people or vehicles and, as the cars would travel between infected woodlands and uninfected areas several times during the course of the rally, there would be a high risk of spreading the disease.
This month’s Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay Rally has been postponed as a result and talks are continuing with other event organisers who use the forests.
The trees most likely to be affected by the disease cover 23,000 ha in Wales and comprise approximately 8pc of forestry coverage.
Forestry Commission Wales District Forest Manager Dai Jones said, "We are treating the outbreak of Phytophthora ramorum in South Wales very seriously and we are determined to minimise the impacts of this disease on woodlands.
“We are disappointed that the Pro-Art Signs Swansea Bay Rally has been postponed but the risk of allowing a large number of cars to travel between areas that are infected by this serious tree disease, and those that are not, is too great.
“We hoped that, by working with the rally organisers, we could identify an alternative route but, as this has not been possible at this time, we look forward to welcoming the event back in future."
The outbreak in South Wales is the first time P. ramorum has been found on Japanese larch trees outside of South West England. It is thought to have been carried into the South Wales forests on raid droplets or mist originating in the affected west country woodlands and it can lay dormant for 18 months before showing signs of infection.
P. ramorum is a fungus-like pathogen that kills many of the trees that it infects. It was found on Japanese larch trees in South West England last year, and in woodland managed by Forestry Commission Wales on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government in the Afan Valley, near Port Talbot, Dulais Valley near Crynant and Garw Valley, near Bridgend in June.
The situation is changing rapidly as surveys are undertaken and it is likely that the infection has spread more widely. Forestry Commission Wales is holding discussions with other rally organisers to consider options for the events that are due to take place later this year.
The public woodlands remain open and signs at forest entrances ask visitors to observe some simple bio security precautions to minimise the spread of infection. However, forestry staff are concerned that rallycars and spectators would criss-cross forests several times in the course of the WRGB event, considerably raising the prospect of contamination.