Gyeonggi Province: "Monitoring is the First Step in Control"
Implementing Three-Tiered Precision Monitoring with Ground Teams, Helicopters, and Drones
Gyeonggi Province is implementing a triple surveillance system using helicopters, drones, and ground control teams to prevent the spread of pine wilt disease during the summer. Provided by Gyeonggi Province
Pine wilt disease is a fatal wilt disease that kills pine trees and is irreversible once a tree is infected. The pine wood nematode cannot move on its own; instead, it is transmitted when vector insects, which inhabit dead trees, chew on the young branches of new pine trees, thereby introducing the nematode into the tree tissues and spreading the disease.
Between May and August, when vector insects become highly active, infected trees can be identified with the naked eye, making monitoring especially important during this period. Accordingly, the province plans to diversify its monitoring methods to detect infected trees at an early stage.
The monitoring process consists of three steps: first, helicopters are used to gain a broad overview of the spread and distribution across large forest areas; second, drones are deployed to capture high-resolution images of suspicious sites identified during helicopter monitoring; and third, ground monitoring teams precisely locate the infected trees through on-site inspections.
The results of this monitoring serve as crucial baseline data for selecting areas for detailed autumn surveys of damaged trees, and for determining the scope and methods of control measures for the following year.
In addition, the province plans to proactively block the spread of pine wilt disease by expanding aerial surveillance to not only cities and counties where the disease has already occurred, but also to adjacent unaffected areas, in order to prevent the potential spread of pests at an early stage. As a result, starting with Namyangju City on the 29th, aerial monitoring using helicopters and drones is being sequentially conducted in 24 cities and counties within the province.
Lee Taeseon, Director of the Forest and Greenery Division of Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The first step in preventing the spread of pine wilt disease is proactive monitoring and swift control. In particular, we will conduct precise investigations through aerial monitoring during the summer to ensure no infected trees are missed, and we will make every effort to establish scientific and systematic control plans."
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