Council being asked for $4.9M to fight looper moths

More trees could be coming down in Stanley Park.

Vancouver City Council is being asked to give the park board $4.9 million to take down trees damaged by looper moths across dozens of hectares of the park.

The report to council is also calling for extensive tree planting and vegetation management work over the next two years.

The looper moth outbreak started on the north shore 2019, and it was found in Stanley Park in 2020 following warmer winter and spring conditions.

“There is no feasible treatment for the insect, and the use of pesticides would impact all other moths, butterflies, and other non-target insect species,” the report says.

“When the looper population did not naturally decrease after two years, significant tree mortality was observed, and a professional forestry consultant was engaged in 2022 to develop a risk
assessment and mitigation plan.”

As trees die and decay, they can fall, posing a safety risk to the public.

Council will decide whether to approve funding at a meeting next week.

With files from Cole Schisler.