Forestry staff have proposed a scaled down response to the tree disease known as ash dieback in Northern Ireland, in favour of more cost effective measures. Ash dieback is a fungal infection which leads to leaf loss and lesions on the bark of ash trees, and in many cases it will eventually kill infected plants. More than 100,000 of trees have been cut down and about £500,000 has been spent in a bid to contain the disease. But it is still spreading and staff say that approach is no longer practicable. Stormont’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has launched a public consultation on proposals to change their approach to tackling the disease. It suggests that when plants are found to have been affected by ash dieback, DAERA would no longer issue “statutory notices” saying they must be destroyed.