(P. ramorum) V: Ground Work

Phytophthora ramorum (P.ramorum)

Location: Glenariffe Forest Park

This was an odd one for me. I was photographing the affected area to discover how to photograph the content for this project.

Although the subject matter is pressing, engaging and urgent, the method of repeating a photographic composition is not. Making portraits of dead and dying tree stumps is boring (when considered en masse). The sloping terrain of the Glenariffe forest park combined with the heavily distressed woodland floor makes for 'beautiful' compositions, genuinely lovely images of destruction and deforestation. However, this does not intrigue me.

Instead I am drawn to the details scatted about the scene: painted indicators; chainsaw marks, split trunks, fungi patterns across tree rings, and so on. The beautiful minutia. The wide photographs work well to establish the scene and to record the scale of the soil erosion and deforestation, but the most engrossing points are found by moving much closer.

"The devil is in the detail". This was a favourite mantra of one of my photography teachers, and I suppose this has stuck with me.

P.ramorum, or "Sudden Oak Death", has already had a devestating impact on America in the past decade, specifically Northern California. Here is a video from QUEST's archive series on P.ramorum:

(sorry about the forced crop on the video)

-PM

(P. ramorum) II

A comparison; a reason...

I sifted through my archive to find one specific photograph so that I could make a point. The photo was taken in the Glenariffe Forest Park in September of 2008, the image is almost garishly green because of a recent shower. The rain water, caught in the trees and vegetation, dapples the light and makes the landscape literally sparkle. This photo was taken during one of my few trips home that year, and to me this was home.

And that is why walking the same path only two weeks past I was stunned to find that the avenue of trees no longer existed. The trees had become infected, were systemically felled and have been destroyed to prevent the spread of Phytophthora ramorum (P. ramorum).

More later, when I know more.

PM

(P. ramorum)

A little background to start...

In Europe, including the UK, P. ramorum has been found mainly on container-grown Rhododendron, Viburnum and Camellia plants in nurseries. It was first detected in the UK in 2002, when emergency measures were introduced. The initial measures included destruction of infected plants, a ban on imports of susceptible material from affected areas of the USA, and notification of movements of susceptible nursery stock. These measures were notified to the EU Standing Committee on Plant Health, which agreed EU-wide emergency measures in November 2002, based largely on the UK's action. Those measures are still in place.

Phytophthora ramorum was first identified in the mid-1990s as the cause of widespread devastation of wild oak trees in California and Oregon, USA (which earned it the name 'Sudden oak death').

Source: http://fera.defra.gov.uk/plants/plantHealth/pestsDiseases/phytophthora/pRamorum/

In 2010, P. ramorum came to the Glenariffe Forest Park in the Glens of Antrim. The removal of infected trees has had a serious impact on the landscape of the area.

-PM