MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay 鈥� Palm trees in are more than just plants, they are icons, much like olive groves for Greeks or cherry blossoms for the Japanese.
The treasured trees lining one of the world鈥檚 longest sidewalks through Montevideo, Uruguay鈥檚 capital, and adorn the swanky Atlantic have recently come under ruthless attack.
Across the small South American country, palm trees are falling prey to a fierce enemy measuring just 5 centimetres (2 inches) in length: The red palm weevil.
First the elegant fronds droop. Then the tell-tale holes appear in the trunk. Soon enough, the tree is tilting toward collapse.
The weevil has devoured thousands of Uruguay鈥檚 palm trees since its unexplained arrival from Southeast Asia in 2022. But authorities are only now waking up to the threat as the landscape of municipalities transforms and fears grow that the country's beloved palms could be wiped out.
鈥淲e are late in addressing this,鈥� Estela Delgado, the national director of biodiversity at Uruguay's Ministry of Environment, acknowledged last month. 鈥淏ut we are doing so with great commitment and seriousness.鈥�
The insect and its devastating impact can be found in 60 countries around the world but nowhere else in . Authorities first detected it in the town of Canelones, bordering Montevideo, where the insect killed more than 2,000 palm trees in less than a month.
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Weevils quietly wreak destruction by boring through the open scars of pruned palms and laying hundreds of eggs inside. When larvae hatch, they tunnel through trunks and eat up the trees鈥� internal tissue. Death strikes within weeks.
The Uruguayan government set up a task force to combat the plague in March. In May, Environment Minister Edgardo Ortu帽o declared the fight against the red palm weevil 鈥渁 national priority."
As of this year, the red bug has proliferated in eight of the country's 19 regions, including Montevideo. Half of the capital's 19,000 palm trees have been infected, estimates Gerardo Grinvald, director of pest control company Equitec, which helps authorities combat the bug.
The insect first attacks decorative Canary palms, the tree in so many pictures of Uruguay鈥檚 sunny landscape, before moving onto its date palms.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an invisible pest,鈥� Grinvald said, explaining the challenge of identifying an infestation when it starts. As a result, landowners fail to isolate and quarantine their trees, fueling the weevil's crawl across the country.
The Montevideo municipality this year earmarked $70,000 for chemical pesticide sprays and insecticide injections meant to kill bugs inside infested trunks, with the goal of saving some 850 trees in the city鈥檚 prominent Parque Rod贸, a scenic urban park along the coast.
In the southeast corner of Uruguay, home to Punta del Este, a beachy, palm-fringed haven for jet-set elites from all over the world, authorities recently allocated $625,000 for efforts to dispose of infected trees and lure weevils away from affected areas with pheromone traps and other methods.
鈥淲e are losing our palm trees,鈥� lamented Montevideo resident Rafael dos Santos as he walked his dog in Parque Rod贸. 鈥淭hey are historic in Uruguay, and a part of us.鈥�
As the weevil's march continues unabated, authorities now fear native trees of Uruguay's UNESCO biosphere reserve bordering will fall victim next, potentially facilitating the spread of the parasite across an unprepared continent.
