The cost to the UK of the ash dieback disease has been estimated at £15bn ($19.6bn) in a report by Dr Louise Hill, a plant sciences researcher at the University of Oxford. The authors, writing in the Current Biology journal, estimated that the total cost of ash dieback would be 50 times greater than the annual value of trade in live plants to and from Britain. She said that while it was not yet clear how much money would be needed for such an operation, she expected there could be significant savings from using less expensive and more efficient methods of disposal. Co-author of the report Dr Nick Atkinson from the Woodland Trust said local authorities are likely to be responsible for covering most of the cost but have limited funds to do so.
The cost to the UK of the ash dieback disease has been estimated at £15bn ($19.6bn) in a report by Dr Louise Hill, a plant sciences researcher at the University of Oxford. She said that while it was not yet clear how much money would be needed for such an operation, she expected there could be significant savings from using less expensive and more efficient methods of disposal. Co-author of the report Dr Nick Atkinson from the Woodland Trust said local authorities are likely to be responsible for covering most of the cost but have limited funds to do so.