Leskovac – A genuine invasion of gipsy moths was recorded in the Jablanica District’s 18, 272 hectares of forest, in 7,408 hectares of privately-owned forests and in 10, 863 hectares of state forests, said Biljana Milenkovic, who is in charge of protecting forests at the “Forest” estate in Leskovac.  

Forestry engineers identified the attacks of gypsy moths in the forests in the region of Leskovac, Leban, Bojnik, Medvedja and Vlasotince.  

“The mechanical destruction of gipsy moths has been going on in the territory of Jablanica district since mid-January. It was performed on about 4, 000 hectares of state forests in the forest departments of Vucje, Lebane, Predejane and Vlasotince. The cleaning of gypsy moths was conducted by our own workforce, by hiring the workers of the "Forest" estate from Leskovac", she said. 

Along with the cleaning of state forests, we destroy gipsy moths’ litters in private forests, too, particularly where they are adjacent to state forests, said Ms. Milenkovic.

She warns that this treatment needs to be done by the end of March, because caterpillars are, thereafter, born out of egg masses, causing a lot of damage while looking for food.  

The public enterprise "Serbia Forests", as the user of state forests, is under an obligation to mechanically destroy gipsy moths’ litters in the forests it uses by the end of March. The Republican forestry inspector is informed about the implemented measures every fifteen days. Then he comes to the field to attend the burning of gipsy moths’ litters and makes a record of it. When it comes to private forests, the forest owners are obliged to comply with the instructions of “Serbia Forests” professionals and mechanically destroy the gipsy moths’ litters themselves”,  said Ms. Milenkovic.

She calls on "all forest owners to begin cleaning the gipsy moths’ litters in their forests, since the damage inflicted by gipsy moths can be prevented or reduced only by everyone’s involvement in the cleaning activities.”    

Source: Jugpress and Coordination Body