SUPPORT RESEARCH TO SAVE OUR FORESTS

The bark beetle infestation is a new threat to our forests.

The destruction of the forest area across northeastern Italy after the 2018 Vaia Storm also drove an infestation of the bark beetle. Naturally present in these forests, this small beetle mainly feeds on damaged and fallen spruce trees. The great availability of woody material present and recent meteorological trends have allowed the bark beetle populations to go from an endemic problem to a full-on infestation.

Over the last three years, Veneto has witnessed the infestation of the bark beetle attack reaching over 8 million trees. Infestations such as this may lead to damage equal to or greater than that of the Vaia Storm itself.

Unfortunately, the work done to limit the infestation has not sufficiently solved the problem, and for this reason, we must invest in the study and research to prevent parasitic proliferations that threaten our forests in the future.

As such, the DAFNAE and TESAF Departments of the University of Padua have led the call for two research projects on the forest and the fight against the bark beetle infestation. The project is supported thanks to a collaboration with the communication agency AKQA s.r.l and with the Treviso playing card company Dal Negro.

The projects will finance two three-year research doctorates in Forestry Sciences and Entomology that are aimed at studying the bark beetle infestation and new prevention methods for the future.