Pines On Tanegashima

Pines On Tanegashima

There is a type of pine cultivar only found on Tanegashima and Yakushima.  It is called the 屋久種子五葉松 (Yaku-Tane-Goyoumatsu) Or the YakuTane Five Needle Pine. It is a smaller tree often used in Bonsai and is known for its unusual number of needles. Most pine trees in Japan have bunches of 2 or three needles, but the YakuTane pine has five needles per bundle making it a rather unusual type of white pine.

 

The Yakutane hozenkai is based out of Nishinnoomote, and is currently working to protect the remaining Yakutane pines and the Japanese black pines that are still on the island. Recently a good number of these trees have be downed due to Pine Wilt caused by Bursaphelenchus xylophilus a nematode also known by the name Pine Wood Nematode (PWN). Native to North America, the nematode is an invasive species in Japan. In fact, wood from America and Canada has been banned from import to Japan unless it has undergone significant disinfection processes.

The nematode is spread through the forest by the native Monochamus family of insects. The two main species are the Japanese Pine Sawyer and the Sakhalin Pine Beetle. The nematode lives on the beetle and when the beetle eats the bark of the tree the nematode has a chance to enter into the tree and starts to eat it from the inside. Breaking down the cell walls of the tree, this infection can cause a once healthy tree to die in less than 3 months.

In Japan there there are a number of ways that people are using in order to try to prevent the spread of this invasive species. The most common method is burning the infected wood; this is currently prefered method of the Yakutane Hozenkai. Before the tree is infected they inject the trees with antibiotics that keep the tree from getting infected even if it gets damaged by the sawyers. Unfortunately these pesticides are rather expensive and do not last very long.

Recently the Hozenkai hosted a seminar on the preservation of these trees. Dr. Katsunori Nakamura gave a presentation on the newest technology being used in forest protection efforts in Japan. Actually, this revolutionary technology is a thick clear plastic sheet. By wrapping the cut logs in a clear plastic sheet, and then leaving covered for about a year the logs will be preserved, but the sawyers will die due to the heat generated inside the plastic sheeting.

This process will help the people of Tanegashima protect their trees. Especially as Tanegashima is rebuilding its image to more of a natural place. By protecting the historical trees on Tanegashima, the island is more likely to attract like minded people. Those who care about the environment and the places in which they live.