According to a 2016 report published in the Journal of Ecology a combination of Ash Dieback Disease and the Emerald Ash Borer attacks could wipe out European Ash trees.

Trees now believed to have been infected with the fungus responsible for Ash Dieback were reported dying in large numbers in Poland in 1992, and by the mid 1990s it was also found in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. However, it wasn’t until 2010 that the fungus was properly described by scientists.

By 2008 the disease was also discovered in Scandinavia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. By 2012 it had spread to Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Britain and Ireland. By 2016, it was already identified in central Norway, the northernmost distribution area of ash trees.

Estonian ash trees may now be endangered due to the spread of emerald ash borers, an invasive species highly destructive to ash trees which thrives across the border in Russia. Although no outbreaks have yet reached Estonia, the issue has blighted trees in the Leningrad oblast, which borders Estonia. The state Agriculture and Food Board (PTA) has installed hundreds of glue traps across Eastern Estonia to combat the problem. Ülle Metsman, adviser at the PTA, told ETV news show „Aktuaalne Kaamera” that the emerald ash borers are agile and can move several kilometres in the space of a year. An even quicker option could involve the bug attaching itself to any means of transport, such as under the tarpaulin of a train or a truck.

If any beetles are found stuck in the glue traps, the next step will be to search for evidence of damage to nearby trees. The emerald ash borer is a wood beetle with high destructive power, causing the bulk of its damage in North-Eastern China, North America, and now Russia. Ash tree stocks in Estonia have already been decimated by Ash Dieback disease, making the threat of the emerald borer even more worrying.