Red Palm Weevil epidemic

In my contribution published on December 4 regarding the Red Palm Weevil's presence in Malta, and, in particular, in the San Anton Gardens area, I commented about a majestic, 75-year-old palm tree next to the beautiful row of palms lining the avenue opposite the gardens: "...a very tall one literally across the road is possibly showing very early signs of attack, though I sincerely hope I am mistaken."

Unfortunately, I was not mistaken. That same palm tree (marked 'A' in the accompanying photograph, taken on New Year's Day) is dead. 'B' is in the same condition 'A' was when I reported it in early December. This means that by the end of this month, 'B' will also be lifeless. Tree 'A' is currently infecting all the other trees nearby, and 'B' will soon take over.

The wholesale decimation of the palm tree population in Malta has accelerated wildly and all areas are affected. Meanwhile, the authorities fail to take action in many cases because 'they are on private land'. When action is taken, it is totally inadequate.

This is a national epidemic. Extreme situations call for extreme measures so such excuses are unacceptable. Similarly unacceptable is the authorities' refusal to provide 'treatment' to private owners unless they pay for it. The weevil is not contained by any legal boundaries. Just one infected tree, wherever it may be, must not be allowed to stand.

Emergency regulations should be drawn up to enable action to be taken, whether on private or public land. A dedicated group of people must be set up to oversee the complete eradication of this destructive pest from our islands.

Control alone simply does not work. Overlooking just one palm tree will mean that we are back to where it all started.

Preventing infection means frequent and expensive chemical treatment of trees, without any let-up, over their entire lifetime, something that is not going to happen. Palm trees are slow-growing and long-living and the weevils have all the time in the world.

Given 70, 80 years, the average lifespan for a palm, the chances of an individual tree encountering a weevil while unprotected are great.

Chemically treating individual infected palm trees, at this stage, is far too time-consuming and totally impractical on a national scale. When signs of infection become obvious the tree is, effectively, condemned.

Total eradication of the Red Palm Weevil is not impossible, if the situation remains manageable - which it will cease to be within a few months.

Once the weevil infects a palm tree, the population will remain with it at all stages of development (eggs, larvae, adult) greatly increasing in number until the tree is killed off. Hence, as long as the tree is alive, the weevils are contained. However, once the tree dies, the adults depart, in their hundreds, infecting other trees within a certain radius.

If one dying/dead tree infects just five others, it will take only a few years for all the palm trees in Malta to get infected and killed off. It does get worse. The Red Palm Weevil also has an appetite for other trees and plants as a second choice, so it does not end there.

The only real way to wrest control back is to immediately remove, safely transport, and burn trees the instant they show signs of having been infected. Thus, the weevils will be destroyed just before their mass exodus of destruction.

At the end of the day, dead trees are going to have to be removed anyway - apart from being an eyesore, they rapidly become a public hazard. So it must be done while it makes sense to do so.