Overview
- Widespread nests of the oak processionary moth are forcing repeated local restrictions, with two schools in Bad Wildungen closed while specialist crews remove nests and multiple Berlin parks and sports fields temporarily shut.
- All twelve Berlin districts sent a joint letter to the Senat on June 10 requesting a central coordination body, reclassification of the pest as a public‑health concern, and reliable funding because individual districts say they are overrun.
- Cities and counties are using a mix of control methods — biological nematodes, specialist vacuum removal with filtered equipment and thermal disposal, and in some rural areas drone or helicopter applications — while prioritizing schools, kindergartens, playgrounds and sports facilities.
- Volunteer and municipal reporting tools are mapping nests in near real time, with an independent live map in Berlin collecting about 400 citizen reports in days and supplementing official surveillance.
- Local officials link the surge to warmer, drier conditions that favor northward spread, and warn the outbreak will raise costs and staffing burdens for green services unless higher‑level coordination and funding are provided.