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New Order Tightens Pine Nematode Controls in Southwest France, Eases Christmas Tree Deliveries

Officials say clarified movement rules and targeted felling are meant to contain an incurable pest threatening the Landes timber economy.

Overview

  • The regional prefect announced a new decree due within 48 hours that refines restrictions across the delimited area covering a 500‑meter infested zone and a 20‑kilometer buffer around Seignosse.
  • Conifers, including Christmas trees, will be allowed to enter the controlled perimeter, but exits of sensitive plants, wood and bark remain banned unless wood is processed or ISPM 15 heat‑treated.
  • All felling, pruning, trimming and stump removal will require authorization from the regional food, agriculture and forestry directorate (DRAAF), and every susceptible plant in the infested core must be cut.
  • Authorities will continue inspections and sampling throughout the buffer, and firms unable to operate under the restrictions can use standard short‑time work support for exceptional circumstances.
  • The outbreak was first confirmed on November 3 in the Landes; the nematode spreads via the Monochamus galloprovincialis beetle, can kill pines within weeks, and has no curative treatment.