The technical manager for forest health in the Balearics, Luis Núñez, says that a new method is being deployed against the processionary caterpillar. New it may be for the Ibanat agency on the scale that is planned, but it is one well known to many, such as gardeners and home owners who have pine trees in their gardens - a ring trap around the trunk to capture the caterpillars as they descend from their bag nests.
For now, it is a pilot project. Núñez notes that it is going well, but it is only limited. Forty of the particular traps being used have been purchased for the 220,000 hectares of forest in Mallorca. But he hopes that 500 more will be bought for next year. Each unit costs between 20 and 40 euros.
The caterpillar is one of the most common pests in the Balearics. The Aleppo pine, which proliferates on the islands, is its 'favourite' tree. And the caterpillar has itself been proliferating ever more. This is because of the increasingly mild winters. "The cold will kill it," Núñez says. But Ibanat have observed "anomalous behaviour" this winter. It is not common to see so many caterpillars descending so early, but they have been because of the mild conditions.
Various methods are used to combat the pest. These include spraying with an ecological compound and shooting the bag nests out of trees. But it is a massive task that has only limited success. For example, bags that are right at the top of the tallest trees may well persist after fumigation. And it is a task made no easier by the fact that the caterpillars are now emerging earlier.