OTTAWA, ON, June 9, 2022 /CNW/ - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has updated its regulated areas for hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) to include areas in Nova Scotia and Ontario, in an effort to slow the insect's spread. This change is due to previous detections of HWA in Lunenburg and Kings County, Nova Scotia in 2020 and 2021 respectively, as well as in Fort Erie, Ontario in July 2021.
Effective immediately, the movement of hemlock materials, including logs, branches and woodchips, and all species of firewood are restricted from the following areas:
- The province of British Columbia,
- the counties of Lunenburg, Digby, Kings, Queens, Shelburne, Yarmouth and Annapolis in Nova Scotia and
- the City of Niagara Falls, the Township of Wainfleet and the Town of Fort Erie in Ontario
If you need to move regulated articles such as logs and branches or firewood of any species out of the HWA regulated area, please contact your local CFIA office to request written authorization.
Although the HWA poses no threat to human health, it is highly destructive to hemlock trees. It poses a major economic and environmental threat to urban and forested areas of North America. The CFIA continues to work with federal, provincial, municipal and Indigenous partners and organizations to slow the spread of this pest.
- Moving untreated firewood is a common way for invasive insects and diseases to spread.
- Once established, HWA will spread naturally via wind, birds, animals and human movement of nursery stock, logs and other wood products, including firewood. To help prevent the spread of this pest, the public is asked not to move firewood and hemlock products.
- The CFIA regulates this pest to protect Canada's forests, municipal trees and nurseries.
- Hemlock woolly adelgid – Pest fact sheet
- Areas regulated for the hemlock woolly adelgid
- Additional information on the hemlock woolly adelgid
- Don't move firewood
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) touches the lives of all Canadians in so many positive ways. Each day, hard-working CFIA employees—including inspectors, veterinarians and scientists—inspect food for safety risks, protect plants from pests and invasive species, and respond to animal diseases that could threaten Canada's national herd and human health. Guided by science-based decision-making and modern regulations, the Agency works tirelessly to ensure access to safe and healthy food in Canada, and support access to international markets for our high-quality agricultural products. To learn more, visit inspection.canada.ca.
SOURCE Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
Contacts: CFIA Media Relations, 613-773-6600, [email protected]
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