“Harmful to Honeybees?” Korea Forest Service Considers Halting Aerial Pest Control for Pine Wilt Disease

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Korea Forest Service is considering stopping aerial spraying for pine wilt disease starting this year. This measure reflects concerns from some quarters about environmental factors affecting honeybees and others.

According to the Korea Forest Service on the 27th, aerial spraying for pine wilt disease began in 2005 and continued until last year. The insecticide mainly used in aerial spraying has been thiacloprid, a neonicotinoid class chemical.

This insecticide is a type widely used in cultivation areas such as vegetables and fruits, and is registered as a pesticide approved for use by the Rural Development Administration.

However, recently, the use of neonicotinoid class insecticides has been restricted in regions such as Europe and the United States, and in Korea, concerns about the potential harm to honeybees and other species in treated areas have been consistently raised.

These concerns reflect fears that the use of thiacloprid through aerial spraying could have negative effects, especially as the honeybee population is rapidly declining.

In this regard, since September last year, the Korea Forest Service has formed the "Forest Pest Pesticide Expert Council" to assess the risk of thiacloprid and to explore alternative pesticides for controlling pine wilt disease.

Additionally, the Korea Forest Research Institute is leading research to determine whether thiacloprid actually affects the honeybee ecosystem.

In particular, the Korea Forest Service plans to replace aerial spraying with drone and ground spraying targeting important forest conservation areas and pine wilt disease outbreak zones, as well as directly injecting tree injections into pine species to eliminate vector insects.

A Korea Forest Service official stated, "An explanatory meeting on the aerial spraying improvement plan is scheduled for early next month," adding, "The meeting will be an opportunity to announce the discovery of alternative pesticides to replace the currently used ones and plans to control vector insects."