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An operation to remove three plane trees affected by colored canker and, for this reason, at risk of falling begins on Monday 1 July, in via Canaletto in front of the PalaMadiba.
Colored canker is a very serious and contagious infection that only affects plane trees. It is caused by a fungus (Ceratocystis platani) that enters the plants through wounds, even very small ones, on the trunk or roots and spreads rapidly, causing the occlusion of the woody vessels and leading to the death of the plant, with the consequent risk of falling, within a few years. The infection, incurable, spreads quickly from one plant to another (even through contact of the roots) and for this reason a ministerial decree of 2012, later implemented at regional level, imposes as a mandatory phytosanitary treatment the felling of trees in which the disease has been ascertained. The law also requires the removal of adjacent plants in order to avoid, precisely, contagion and preserve the trees that are part of road rows, parks and gardens.
The removal of the three plane trees in front of the PalaMadiba, which will be completed in about a week, is part of a broader intervention which aims to block the spread of the epidemic and was arranged with a resolution of the Emilia Romagna Region following a phytosanitary inspection during which the symptoms of the disease were noted, and the consequent analyzes carried out by the official laboratory of the phytosanitary and production protection sector, which ascertained the presence of the colored cancer in the trees examined. The intervention began last April with the felling of nine trees in Viale Montecuccoli and will continue in the coming weeks in Viale Amendola and Viale delle Rimembranze.
The works will be carried out taking care to minimize the risk of dispersion of sawdust from infected trees. The stumps will also be uprooted and, if this is not possible, the stump and roots will be devitalized and cut below ground level, followed by the disinfection of the holes. The entire area affected by the demolitions will also be disinfected. The wood resulting from felling will be disposed of at an appropriate treatment plant.
The first report of the colored canker of plane trees dates back to 1926 in New Jersey. From here it spread to various areas of the eastern United States and subsequently to Europe. In Italy, the colored canker appeared for the first time in 1956 in Campania and particularly in Caserta where it completely destroyed the row of hundreds of centuries-old plants that adorned the access avenue to the Royal Palace. In the 1970s the infection spread to other regions and today it is present throughout Italy. In Emilia Romagna outbreaks have been found in all provinces.
