Canal du Midi to lose 2,000 trees
The 42,000 plane trees that border the Canal du Midi are iconic to say the least. So pay attention at the back of the class: 2,000 of les platanes in the Languedoc are about to be cut down, and in a strange sort of way they’re belated victims of World War II.
They’re suffering from a canker called Ceratocystisplatani, and there’s currently no treatment against it.
Apparently this microscopic fungus killer arrived further up the coast in Provence back in August 1944. It came from the American GIs’ ammunition crates, which were made from infected trees.
The bark of a healthy plane tree
By 2006 the disease had reached the banks of the Canal du Midi, and now it’s spreading along a stretch from the Étang de Thau (near where the canal meets the Mediterranean) to Castelnaudary further west in the Aude. It has also hit the connecting channel between the Canal du Midi and the Canal de la Robine at Narbonne.
The fungus is transmitted along these waterways not only the by water (bear in mind that the plane trees dip their thick roots into the canal) but also by the comings and goings of the boats – so it can travel upstream too.
When barges stop they often squeeze against the bank, so you can have 30 metres of hull rubbing harshly against the roots in question… and cross-contamination.
In recent weeks the workers have been going around with dayglo orange or green spray guns to highlight the doomed trees. According to La Depeche, the Aude and the Hérault are the most affected, and the carnage has already included the following:
Entre 2006 et 2009, 480 platanes ont été abattus sur dix sites, dont les plus importants ont été Villedubert (Aude, 200 platanes), Argens (Aude, 44 platanes) et Pech-Laurier (Hérault, 35 platanes). La campagne 2010, démarrée en décembre dernier, a entraîné, au 7 janvier, l’abattage de 196 sujets sur les sites de Villepinte, Montréal et Trèbes dans l’Aude et Capestang, dans l’Hérault. Les abattages vont se poursuivre dans les prochaines semaines. Ils concerneront les sites suivants. Dans le département de l’Aude : Villemoustaussou, Villedubert, Puilchéric, Argens, Ventenac, Saint-Nazaire- d’Aude, représentant 491 arbres. Dans le département de l’Hérault : Capestang, Colombiers, Villeneuve- les-Béziers, Portiragnes et Agde, représentant 109 arbres.
Two thousand out of 42,000 trees. Think about it: at least one in every 21 trees just for starters, to minimise future risk. The replacements will be other species, as well as a disease-resistant plane called the Platanor.
Now imagine trying to cut down just one of these massive old plane trees, possibly centuries old, and all its roots – a huge root system, something you’ll know a lot about if you’ve ever cycled along the banks of the canal.
OK, maybe there are much worse things going on in this world at the moment. Even so, the whole thing is quite sad.
Related posts:
Related links:
- There’s even a Facebook campaign to save the canal’s plane trees
How did that Joni Mitchell song go again? "You don't know what you got till it's gone..."
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I can’t imagne the canal without those trees, how awful
Yes, it would be terrible, but the bad news keeps coming. VNF, the waterways board, told Midi Libre yesterday that all the planes could be infected within the next 15-20 years.
VNF says it will cost €200m to remove all the infected trees and replant with other varieties and disease-resistant planes.
Jays, just read about this on Guardians website then thought of u guys. ALL of the trees are going?????
Le Canal du Midi sans platanes, si ça se confirme c’est bien triste. C’est comme un été sans soleil