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Canada's trees: Protesters try, and fail, to stop BT spraying

It begins as a tiny stowaway on a crate from Europe or Asia, a relocated piece of firewood, or just a mild winter. Within decades, millions of hectares of Canada's woodlands have been laid waste because of it. Armies of tiny insects have stripped city boulevards of stately elms and ruined billions of dollars worth of softwood. Since the 1950s, science has fought these invading waves of caterpillars and beetles using everything from DDT to pheromones and bacteria. But victory seems no closer in the fight to save Canada's trees.

A group of activists and residents in Cape Breton are unable to stop hemlock looper spraying.

Medium: Television
Program: 1st Edition
Broadcast Date: June 25, 1996
Guest(s): Eric Georgenson, Charlie Restino, Diane Williams
Host: Clare MacKenzie, Paul Withers

Last updated: April 4, 2013

Page consulted on April 22, 2013

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