Portugal takes drastic action to stop pine worm

LISBON, Feb 1 (Reuters) Portugal will cut a huge corridor through its forests in an effort to contain a parasitic worm and stop it spreading to other European countries, officials said.

Pine wilt nematodes were first detected in a port city south of Lisbon in 1999 and have spread steadily.

Authorities decided recently to cut a 125-mile long cordon sanitaire around the capital to contain the worm within an area of 2.47 million acres, about one ninth of Portugal's total forest.

Work will start on February 5. It is hoped the 1.8 mile corridor will stop the disease spreading inland and towards neighbouring Spain.

''We hope all operations will be concluded by March 31,'' Portugal's secretary of state for Rural Development and Forestry, Rui Goncalves, said.

The worms procreate inside a tree's trunk and kill it by blocking its access to water. During the warmer spring months, worms use insects to jump from tree to tree.

Portugal's forests are mostly pine and eucalyptus trees. Portugal is the only European country to have detected the pine worm.

REUTERS AKJ PM1928