The Cartagena City Council’s Parks and Gardens Service is currently finalising the third endotherapy campaign in pine trees to control the processionary moth.
«This pest affects not only plant species such as pines, cedars and firs, but can also cause irritation and allergic reactions in people and animals. Spring is the most dangerous time of the year for this pest, and with this campaign we are getting ahead of it to prevent it from proliferating in our municipality and thus protect people, animals and trees», explained the councillor for Public Roads, Juan Pedro Torralba.
«Endotherapy is an alternative technique to traditional chemical treatments, with a low environmental impact and minimal risk to people,» explained Juan Pedro Torralba. «It consists of injecting a nutritive substance into the trunk of the tree trunk that kills the larvae and their proliferation,» he said.
Thus, the system used in Cartagena provides greater protection for the tree due to the greater use of the product, while using less product. It is also a harmless treatment for people, animals and the environment, which acts on phytophagous insects, respecting the natural enemies.
The ‘vaccine’ effect of this technique lasts for two years but, in order to guarantee the safety of the plants, the treatment is being carried out every year. Thus, at the end of September, the third campaign began and has just finished.
The treatments have been carried out on the municipal green areas, with emphasis on the busiest areas and in the vicinity of schools.
The Parks and Gardens Service has appealed to the public to collaborate by reporting the location of any major sources of processionary plants through the usual channels of communication with the municipal services, whether Health or Parks and Gardens, so that they can be removed by the concessionary company.
