In Albania, chestnut trees ravaged by a Chinese wasp

Residents of Reç in northern Albania are panicking. Their livelihood, the chestnut, is threatened by a micro-wasp that poisons their lives and their trees.

Originally from China, the chestnut “gall wasp” spread a few decades ago to Asia, then to the United States, before reaching Europe in the early 2000s.

Since 2020, the bug has been ravaging chestnut trees in a mountainous, poor and remote region in northern Albania, where chestnuts are the main source of income.

“It’s our pet peeve, it’s killing our trees,” laments 64-year-old farmer Prek Gjeloshaj, pointing to the blisters caused by the larvae laying eggs. These growths, called galls, prevent fruiting.

“The damage is everywhere, the losses are really important”, he continues with emotion. “For us, each tree that goes out is like the death of a human being”.

Reç has about 500 hectares of chestnut groves which provide between 60 and 70% of the income of the locality particularly affected by a common scourge in the Balkans, the exodus of its inhabitants.

A branch of chestnut attacked by the “gall wasp” caused by a micro-wasp, on June 19, 2023 in Rec, in the north of Albania (AFP / Adnan Beci)

According to experts, the production of chestnuts, sold to be roasted, transformed into chestnut cream or flour, has collapsed.

“Production, previously 400 to 600 tonnes per year, has fallen by 80%,” Rexhep Metaj, a 68-year-old agronomist, told AFP.

In Reç, fear dominates and the inhabitants leave. There are only 100 families left, compared to 200 before the arrival of the devastating micro-wasp.

– Wasp against wasp –

But as other countries such as France and Italy have done with some success, Albania has turned to a natural predator of the gall wasp, another Chinese wasp, the torymus sinensis.

A specialist from the Ministry of Agriculture releases larvae of torymus sinensis, a natural predator of the gall wasp, in a chestnut forest, on June 5, 2023 in Rec, in northern Albania (AFP/ADNAN BECI)

For the fourth consecutive year, the authorities have released several thousand of these insects in Reç, which lay their eggs on the larvae of the gall wasp.

“We are determined to defeat the gall wasp, which leads to a drop in production and even the death of trees”, underlines Irfan Tarelli, director general of the Albanian Ministry of Agriculture.

You have to be patient and properly match the life cycle of the “good” wasp to that of the insect pest, however, warn the experts.

The battle of the wasps can last because it takes time for the torymus to establish itself.

The inhabitants of Reç have not yet seen any convincing results.

Farmer Rexhep Metaj shows chestnut trees attacked by a micro-wasp on June 19, 2023 in Rec, northern Albania (AFP/ADNAN BECI)

“The disease is not only not slowed down but on the contrary it has gained ground”, regrets Rexhep Metaj.

Another focus of infestation by the gall wasp was detected about 200 kilometers away, in Tropoja, in the northeast, near the border with Kosovo. According to Shpend Nikoçi, representative of local chestnut growers, the parasite will cost the sector 6.5 million euros in losses. It will also be necessary to wait until May 2024 to introduce torymus in this region.

The Ministry of Agriculture, which does not have global data on the areas affected, will publish a first estimate of the results of the insect fight in December, according to Irfan Tarelli.

Aerial view of a chestnut forest in Rec, June 19, 2023 in northern Albania (AFP / ADNAN BECI)

According to specialists, more field studies are needed to find appropriate solutions for Albania, where 400,000 trees produce between four and six million tons of chestnuts each year, more than 25% of which are for export.

But for Abdulla Diku, forest engineer, “biological control is the only method to counter the ravages (of the gall wasp), control it and ensure the return of the natural balance of chestnut forests”.

© 2023 AFP

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