The aim is to guide the population, and in particular the owners of private estates, on how to deal with one of the forest pests that most affects holm oak trees on the island.
The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Natural Environment, through the Forest Health Service, is holding various informative talks in schools, colleges, vocational training centres and town councils to explain the control measures being carried out in Mallorca this year to control the great oak gall midge (Cerambyx cerdo). The Directorate General for the Natural Environment and Forestry Management is constantly seeking to improve and conserve the state of holm oak forest masses affected by this insect. For this reason, the aim of these conferences is to guide and inform the population, and in particular the owners of private estates, on how to act in the face of one of the forest pests that has the greatest impact on holm oak forests on the island.
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The control measures for the great oak capricorn tree
In the almost twenty informative talks that have been planned in different town halls and centres in Mallorca, different topics are dealt with, such as what the great oak capricorn is, how to combat it, what its biological cycle is, what damage it causes and how to build traps to capture it. This action has been financed with funds from the sustainable tourism tax. It should be remembered that the great oak capricorn is a boring insect that produces internal galleries in the wood. It is also a transmitter of different species of fungi that favour the appearance of rot, which causes branches and trunks to fall.
For all these reasons, the Forest Health Service has developed a system for the control and improvement of holm oak forests by implementing an exhaustive and rigorous control plan based on a series of scientific and technical studies. Despite being a protected insect in Europe, on the island of Mallorca, due to its overpopulation, its capture has been authorised since 2016. In this sense, actions have already been carried out in several public estates such as Gabellí Petit (Ses Fonts Ufanes), Menut, Binifaldó and Comuna de Biniamar. Trapping actions have also been extended in the recreational areas of Son Moragues and Menut, as well as in the public forests of Santuïri (Pollença), Biniamar, Comuna de Bunyola, Sa Bassa (Fornalutx) and Cúber (Escorca).
In the almost twenty informative talks that have been planned in different town halls and centres in Mallorca, different topics are dealt with, such as what the great oak capricorn is, how to combat it, what its biological cycle is, what damage it causes and how to build traps to capture it. This action has been financed with funds from the sustainable tourism tax. It should be remembered that the great oak capricorn is a boring insect that produces internal galleries in the wood. It is also a transmitter of different species of fungi that favour the appearance of rot, which causes branches and trunks to fall.
For all these reasons, the Forest Health Service has developed a system for the control and improvement of holm oak forests by implementing an exhaustive and rigorous control plan based on a series of scientific and technical studies. Despite being a protected insect in Europe, on the island of Mallorca, due to its overpopulation, its capture has been authorised since 2016. In this sense, actions have already been carried out in several public estates such as Gabellí Petit (Ses Fonts Ufanes), Menut, Binifaldó and Comuna de Biniamar. Trapping actions have also been extended in the recreational areas of Son Moragues and Menut, as well as in the public forests of Santuïri (Pollença), Biniamar, Comuna de Bunyola, Sa Bassa (Fornalutx) and Cúber (Escorca).
Specifically, the actions carried out in the holm oak groves are based on biocontrol.